Putin's `doomsday plane' to fly over Moscow
Russia's “doomsday plane” designed to protect Vladimir Putin in case of nuclear attack will today make its first appearance in a decade at Moscow's Victory Day parade on Monday.
The Ilyushin Il-80 plane, known as “the flying Kremlin,” will take part in a flypast over Red Square in a clear warning to the West. The giant aircraft will be accompanied by the TU-96 “Bear” and TU-160 “White Swan,” which are capable of carrying nuclear warheads.
The doomsday plane has no external windows except in the cockpit and a dome on the roof of the cockpit that supposedly prevents exposure to electromagnetic pulse attacks.
Some 77 jets and helicopters are also expected to fly over Red Square, while MiG-29 fighter jets will fly in the shape of the letter Z, a symbol of supporters of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.