Date:17/07/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/07/17/stories/2003071701801500.htm

International

Eight missile launchers stolen in Russia

MOSCOW JULY 16. At least eight shoulder-fired missile launchers were stolen from a naval arsenal, the Interfax quoted a military official as saying.

The Strela missile launchers were stolen from an arsenal in Bolshiye Izhory, outside St. Petersburg, the Leningrad Military District prosecutor, Igor Lebed, said.

The report did not specify when the theft took place or how thieves gained access to the weapons.

The Defence Ministry officials could not be reached for clarification. Shoulder-fired missiles have been used by insurgents in Russia's separatist region of Chechnya to shoot down Russian helicopters, including three that were shot down last year near the main Russian military base in Chechnya.

The Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, was quoted as saying last month that a Russian Strela was used to fire missiles that missed an Israeli plane after it took off from Mombasa, Kenya, last November with 271 people on board.