Russian Hovercraft Invades Crowded Beach

Snoozing sunbathers in Russia had a surprise awakening on Sunday when a military hovercraft ran onto the beach.

Thery must haver had a hell of a scare! 

Watch the video, incredible!

The Russian 'zubr' landed on a popular beach near the Russian town of Kaliningrad.

The Russian Defence Ministry said the ship's crew were carrying out a training exercise.

According to Russian newspapers, the ministry said it was not sure what people were doing on the beach on a warm day in August.

The craft moved onto the beach at about 70 miles per hour.

A spokesman for the Russian defence ministry told local newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda that the hovercraft was on a tactical mission in an area owned by the military.

"Docking at the beach ... is a normal event," a spokesman was quoted as saying. "What people were doing at the beach on the territory of a military (base) is unclear."

However, the newspaper said the base the ministry was referring to was in Khmelevka, several kilometres away.

The hovercraft is believed to have been one of the Russian Navy's Zubr-type crafts, which are built in St Petersburg and can travel at speeds of up to 60 knots (110kmh, 68mph).

They weigh around 550 tonnes and measure nearly 60 metres in length.

The vessels carry up to 500 troops and can be fitted with missile launchers, automatic gun mounts and equipment to lay mines.

Luckily nobody was hurt during the exercise.

adapted from CBBC News and HNGNhttp://www.hngn.com/articles/10660/20130822/russian-hovercraft-invades-crowded-beach-putins-jet-ski-military-territory.htm