The former commander of a Russian navy destroyer stole its 13-tonne bronze propellers and replaced them with ones made from a cheaper metal, investigators have said.
The twin propellers, worth 39 million roubles (£388,000), were removed while the Bespokoyny was in a shipyard in Kaliningrad, Russia’s Baltic exclave, between 2016 and 2018. The ship is on display at a floating museum near St Petersburg.
The commander, who has not been named, tried to cover his tracks by installing imitation propellers worth far less than the originals, Sergei Sharshavykh, head of military investigations in the Russian navy’s Baltic Fleet, said. He did not reveal exactly how the heist was pulled off, but said the inquiry was almost complete. Other navy employees and civilians were involved, he
