Dymshits–Kuznetsov hijacking affair
The Dymshits–Kuznetsov aircraft hijacking affair, also known as The First Leningrad Trial or Operation Wedding (Russian: Ленинградское самолётное дело, or Дело группы Дымшица-Кузнецова) (Leningrad Process), was an attempt to take an empty civilian aircraft on 15 June 1970 by a group of 16 Soviet refuseniks in order to escape to the West. Even though the attempt was unsuccessful, it was a notable event in the course of the Cold War because it drew international attention to human rights violations in the Soviet Union and resulted in the temporary loosening of emigration restrictions.
Background[edit]
In the wake of the 1967 Six-Day War, the Soviet Union broke off diplomatic relations with Israel. A large number of Soviet Jews applied for exit visas to leave the Soviet Union. The process of applying for an exit visa often cost applicants their jobs, which in turn made them vulnerable to charges of social parasitism, a criminal offense.[1] While some were allowed to leave, many were refused permission to emigrate, either immediately or after their cases had languished for years in OVIR (ОВиР, "Отдел Виз и Регистрации", "Otdel Viz i Registratsii", English: Office of Visas and Registration), the MVD (Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs) department responsible for exit visas. In many instances, the reason given for denial was that these persons had been given access, at some point in their careers, to information vital to Soviet national security and could not be allowed to leave.[2]
Incident[edit]
In 1970, a group of sixteen Refuseniks (14 of them Jewish) were organized by dissident Edward Kuznetsov, who had previously served a seven-year term in prison for publishing Phoenix-61, a samizdat poetry collection.[3] The group plotted to buy all the seats on a small 12-seater Antonov An-2 (colloquially known as "кукурузник," kukuruznik) making a local flight from Leningrad to Priozersk, under the guise of a trip to a wedding; throw out the pilots before takeoff from an intermediate stop; and fly to Sweden.[4] Their final goal was Israel. One of the participants, Mark Dymshits, was a former military pilot, who had experience flying the An-2s.[5] The group called the plan "Operation Wedding".[6]
The plan was set in motion in June 1970. On the morning of 15 June the group arrived together in Smolny (later Rzhevka) Airport near Leningrad, only to be arrested by the KGB.[7]