"In the winter of 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, the entire region faced starvation, " says professor Ilyushin, 62.

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The Pulkovo Airlines Ilyushin Il-86 - bound for St Petersburg - came down in a forest about 700 metres (2, 300 feet) from the airport.

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Early Wednesday morning, a Russian Ilyushin II-76 Candid cargo jet sent its first batch of humanitarian aid to Japan, the Russian Emergencies Ministry, EMERCOM, said.

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Other large air freighters already flying include the Russian-built Ilyushin Il-76, the U.S.-made Boeing C-17 Globemaster III and, largest of them all, the Antonov An-225 -- also Russian.

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"The Far East is a Russian colony and all the empires lost their colonies, " explains Igor Ilyushin, who, as a professor of journalism at the Far Eastern State University, has contact with all levels of Russian officialdom.

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Ilyushin, who was head of the Vladivostok region at the time, says the local government turned a blind eye as people broke all sorts of Soviet rules and sold scrap metal, surplus cement and anything else it could find to the Chinese in exchange for food and clothing.

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