A World War II-era Soviet fighter-bomber has been recovered from under 17 metres of water in a lake in northern Russia, the military said Thursday.
The recovery of the Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik followed a week-long operation initiated by the son of the pilot who was forced to land the plane on the ice of Lake Krivoye in the northern Murmansk region in November 1943, a defence ministry spokesman said.
The Il-2 was one of the erstwhile USSR’s most important vehicles in the war, with Stalin himself saying it was as important to the troops as bread.
The plane will be repaired and turned into a monument, the spokesman said.
–IANS