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Mathias Rust | |
|---|---|
.JPG) Rust in 2012 | |
| Born | 1 June 1968 |
| Known for | Illegally landing a small aircraft on Moscow's Red Square |
Mathias Rust (born 1 June 1968)[1] is a German aviator known for his flight that ended with a landing near Red Square in Moscow on 28 May 1987. Then a teenage amateur pilot, he flew from Helsinki, Finland, to Moscow, without authorization. According to Russian claims[2][3] he was tracked several times by Soviet Air Defence Forces and civilian air traffic controllers, as well as Soviet Air Force interceptor aircraft. The Soviet fighters did not receive permission to shoot him down, and his aeroplane was mistaken for a friendly aircraft several times. Also, 28 May 1987 was Border Guards Day, leaving many guards distracted.[4] He landed on Bolshoy Moskvoretsky Bridge, next to Red Square near the Kremlin in the capital of the USSR.
Rust said he wanted to create an "imaginary bridge" to the East, and that his flight was intended to reduce tension and suspicion between the two Cold War sides.[5][6] Rust was sentenced to four years in a general-regime labour camp for violation of border crossing and air traffic regulations, and for provoking an emergency situation upon his landing. After 14 months in prison, he was pardoned by Andrei Gromyko, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, and released.[5][6]
Rust's flight through a supposedly impenetrable air defence system had a great effect on the Soviet military and resulted in the dismissal of many senior officers, including Minister of Defence Marshal of the USSR Sergei Sokolov and the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Air Defence Forces, former World War II fighter pilot ace Chief Marshal Alexander Koldunov. The incident aided Mikhail Gorbachev in the implementation of his reforms, by allowing him to dismiss numerous military officials opposed to his policies.[7]
- ^ "Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv: Eine Cessna auf dem Roten Platz – Mathias Rust in Moskau". www.dra.de (in German). Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ "The Notorious Flight of Mathias Rust".
- ^ https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/604381/a-cessna-sized-hole-in-the-iron-curtain-revisited/
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
guardianmay14was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b LeCompte, Tom (July 2005). "The Notorious Flight of Mathias Rust". Air & Space/Smithsonian. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
- ^ a b Hadjimatheou, Chloe (7 December 2012). "Mathias Rust: German teenager who flew to Red Square". BBC World Service. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
- ^ Miller, Chris (2016). The Struggle to Save the Soviet Economy. The University of North Carolina Press. p. 153.