Russian railway carriages loaded with explosives and a giant cargo plane has been deployed by Vladimir Putin, to destroy a landslide that is threatening four villages. Footage shows preparations underway for the military operation, showing cargo being loaded into the plane before it takes off from the runway. One of the plane’s workers says in the video: “This aircraft is unique because we can complete the flight to the destination airport without refuelling. It can carry as much cargo as three 11-76 cargo planes.”
Trucks are also seen being loaded with the cargo, as a military personnel says: “The personnel of Belogorsk logistics brigade and Yekaterinoslavka motorised shooting brigade are finished unloading carriages of explosives from Primorskiy region.
“The explosives will be sent onwards to the destination to perform special tasks.
“The task is carried with no disruption in the specified time, with no violation to health and safety rules.”
It is reported that President Putin authorised 11 railway carriages to blast the giant rockfall from a mountain, suspected to be caused by a meteorite strike.
However, there are warnings the operation could trigger a river tsunami up to 160ft high.
Scientist Alexey Makhinov said: “If there is an explosion and the surviving part of the hill collapses, there will be a tsunami too, but a bit lower.
“If they blow up the dam that has formed here, then as a result of the explosion, the remaining part of the hill may collapse into the water.
“There is a high probability that this will happen.”
Moving the block in the river is urgent, as four villages and the Baikal Amur Mainline rail link are threatened with floods.
A local political leader claims the landslide was caused by a meteorite strike, as hot rocks were discovered in the aftermath of the event back in December.
Alexey Maslov, head of Verkhnebureinsky district where the incident occurred, said: “We are trying to find the explanation for this incident.
“I insist that it was a meteorite.”
However, a landslide expert believes the collapse was not a meteorite. Professor Dave Petley from the University of Sheffield, said the mountain slope above the Bureya had a “pre-existing tension crack or depression”.
He said: “We can say that this is certainly a rock slope failure, and that it is highly unlikely to be associated with a meteor impact event.”
Additional reporting by Will Stewart