A tale of Russian cows falling from the sky onto a fishing boat in the Pacific has been keeping German diplomats on their toes.
The story, reported by the German Embassy in Moscow to the Foreign Ministry in Bonn and made public by a German newspaper, goes like this: Several weeks ago Russian rescue workers picked some Japanese fishermen from the sea and detained them when they said their vessel sank after being hit by a falling cow.Investigations by Russian authorities then uncovered a bizarre crime story involving Russian soldiers and airborne cattle-rustling, the daily "Hamburger Morgen-post" wrote.
"Members of the Russian forces stole a couple of cows and transported them in a plane. During the flight the cattle got out of control. The crew felt forced to throw the cows out in order to avoid a crash," the paper said, quoting from an official embassy dispatch.