Killer children led by a heroine mother. The tragic story of the Ovechkin family

This happened almost 30 years ago, on the holiday of March 8, 1988. The large and friendly Ovechkin family, known throughout the country - a heroine mother and 10 children from 9 to 28 years old - flew from Irkutsk to a music festival in Leningrad.
They brought with them a bunch of instruments, from double bass to banjo, and everyone around them smiled joyfully, recognizing the “Seven Simeons” - Siberian nugget brothers playing fiery jazz.

But at a 10-kilometer altitude, the people's favorites suddenly took out sawn-off shotguns and a bomb from their cases and ordered them to fly to London, otherwise they would start killing passengers and even blow up the plane. The hijacking attempt turned into an unheard of tragedy


“Wolves in the shoes of the Ovechkins”—that’s what the stunned Soviet press later wrote about them. How did it happen that sunny, smiling guys turned into terrorists? From the very beginning, the mother was blamed for everything, allegedly raising her older sons to be ambitious and cruel. Plus, noisy fame somehow fell on them easily and immediately, and it completely blew their minds. But some also saw in the Ovechkins sufferers, victims of the absurd Soviet system, who committed crimes just to “live like human beings.”

"Family-sect"

A huge family lived in a small private house on 8 acres on the outskirts of Irkutsk: mother Ninel Sergeevna, 7 sons and 4 daughters. The oldest, Lyudmila, got married early and left; she had nothing to do with the theft story. The father died 4 years before these events - they say he was beaten to death by his grown-up sons Vasily and Dmitry for their drunken antics. From childhood, under the mother’s command “Get down!” they were hiding from dad's gun, from which he tried to shoot at them through the window. Ovechkins in 1985. From left to right: Olga, Tatyana, Dmitry, Ninel Sergeevna with Ulyana and Sergey, Alexander, Mikhail, Oleg, Vasily. The seventh brother Igor with a camera remained behind the scenes.
The mother, an “affectionate but strict” woman (according to Tatyana), enjoyed unquestioning authority. She herself grew up an orphan: during the hungry war years her own mother, the widow of a front-line soldier, was killed by a drunken watchman while secretly digging up collective farm potatoes. Ninel developed an iron character and raised her sons the same way, only for them it all developed into ruthlessness and unprincipledness.


Ninel Sergeevna Ovechkina
The Ovechkins were not friends with their neighbors, they lived separately as their own clan, and conducted subsistence farming. Later, their unanimity and isolation from themselves began to be compared with sectarian fanaticism.

Siberian nuggets

All the guys in the family studied at a music school, played instruments, and in 1983 they founded the jazz ensemble “Seven Simeons”, named after the Russian folk tale about twin craftsmen. Just two years later, after participating in the Jazz-85 festival in Tbilisi and the Central Television program “Wider Circle,” they became all-Union celebrities.


“Seven Simeons” on the streets of Irkutsk, 1986
Filmed about an amazing family, the pride of all Siberia documentary. The guys behaved wonderfully, the film crew was delighted with them, but it was difficult with the mother. One of the editors of the tape, Tatyana Zyryanova, later said that Ninel Ovechkina was already filled with pride, was indignant that the family was “showed as peasants” and not “artists” and decided that this was how they wanted to humiliate them.


Ninel Sergeevna. Still from the film.
However, the adult sons also had pride. In her diary, the mother once gave characteristics to all of them, and so about the eldest Vasily she wrote: “Proud, arrogant, unkind.” It was under his influence that the brothers contemptuously rejected studying at the famous Gnesinka, where they were accepted without exams. The “Simeons” imagine themselves to be extraordinary talents, ready-made professionals who only need world recognition. They actually played very well - for amateur performances, but over time, without experienced guidance, under the tutelage of their mother, who already considered them geniuses, they inevitably degenerated. The audience was rather impressed by their brotherly cohesion and touched by Seryozha, who was as tall as his own banjo.

Brilliance and poverty

The Ovechkins accumulated dissatisfaction and anger for another reason: all-Union glory did not bring any money. Although the state allocated them two three-room apartments in good home Having left the old suburban area, they did not live happily ever after, as in a fairy tale. The family quit studying agriculture, but there was no way to make money from music: they were simply banned from giving paid concerts.


“Seven Simeons” with his mother near his rural house


Abandoned Ovechkin house today


The Ovechkins dreamed of their own family cafe, where the brothers would play jazz, and the mother and sisters would be in charge of the kitchen. In just a couple of years, in the 90s, their dreams could come true, but for now private business was impossible in the USSR. The Ovechkins decided that they were born in the wrong country and were inspired by the idea of ​​moving forever to a “foreign paradise”, which they got an idea of ​​when they went on tour in Japan in 1987. The “Simeons” spent three weeks in the city of Kanazawa, a sister city of Irkutsk, and received a culture shock: shops are bursting with goods, shop windows are shining brightly, sidewalks are illuminated from underground, transport drives silently, the streets are washed with shampoo and there are even flowers in the toilets, as the sons excitedly told mother and sisters. Part of the family, according to the principle of that time, was not released, so that the guest performers would not think of running away to the capitalists, dooming those remaining in their homeland to shame and poverty.

“We’ll blow up the plane!”

Returning with a completely changed consciousness, the brothers started to escape, and their mother, impressed by the stories about a well-fed and beautiful foreign country, supported them. We decided that if we run, we should all run at once. The only way they saw was an armed hijacking of the plane - by that time there were numerous stories of hijackings, including successful ones. In case of failure, there was a firm agreement - to commit suicide. For their plans, the Ovechkins chose the Irkutsk – Kurgan – Leningrad flight, Tu-154 aircraft, departure on March 8. On board, in addition to the 11 hijackers, there were 65 passengers and 8 crew members. The weapons—a couple of sawn-off hunting rifles with hundreds of rounds of ammunition and homemade bombs—were carried in a double bass case. From previous trips, the brothers learned that the tool does not pass through the metal detector, and that, having recognized the “Simeons,” the luggage is inspected superficially, just for show. And here the inspectors are in a festive mood, and even the youngest children, Seryozha and Ulyana, are doing their best, distracting them with funny antics.
For the first part of the journey, the “artists” behaved cheerfully and peacefully. We made friends with the flight attendants, especially 28-year-old Tamara Zharka, and showed them family photos. According to one version, Tamara was Vasily’s friend and for his sake she flew outside her shift. When, on the second leg of the route, 24-year-old Dmitry Ovechkin handed her a note: “Go to England (London). Don't descend, otherwise we'll blow up the plane. You are under our control,” she took it all as a joke and laughed carefree. Then, until the very end, Tamara did everything possible to calm down the terrorists, who threatened every minute to start killing passengers and blowing up the cabin. She managed to convince them that the plane, which did not have enough fuel to reach London, would land for refueling in Finland, when in fact it landed at the Veshchevo military airfield near Vyborg, where a capture group was already ready. AIR FORCE was specially written in large letters on the gate of one of the hangars, but the hijackers saw a fuel tanker with the Russian inscription “Flammable”, recognized the Soviet soldiers and realized that they had been deceived. Enraged, Dmitry shot Tamara at point-blank range.

Tamara Zharkaya

The mother begins to command her sons: “Don’t talk to anyone! Take the cabin! The older brothers unsuccessfully try to break down the pilots' armored door with a folding ladder. Meanwhile, amateur attack aircraft - simple police patrolmen who do not have the slightest experience in dealing with hostage situations - penetrate through the viewing windows and hatches into the front and rear parts of the aircraft and, blocking themselves with shields, open indiscriminate fire, hitting innocent passengers. Realizing that there is no way out of the trap, the mother decisively orders the plane to be blown up - everyone will die at once, as agreed. But the bomb didn't even hurt anyone, it only caused a fire. Then the four older brothers take turns shooting with the same sawn-off shotgun; before committing suicide, Vasily shoots a bullet into his mother’s head, again on her orders. All this happens in front of the younger children, who, in horror and lack of understanding of what is happening, huddle close to their 28-year-old sister Olga. 17-year-old Igor manages to hide in the toilet. It could have ended with the death of half the terrorists’ family, but the assault squad aggravated the tragedy. Passengers who jumped out of the burning plane onto the concrete runway in panic were met with warning bursts of machine gun fire and indiscriminately hit with rifle butts and boots. A dozen and a half people were injured and maimed, some were left disabled. Four hostages were wounded by the special group during the shootout in the cabin. Three more died from smoke suffocation. The plane burned down. The remains of flight attendant Tamara were identified only the next morning by the melted wristwatch.


Remains of a burnt Tu-154, April 1988.

The result of the tragedy

Nine people died - Ninel Ovechkina, four eldest sons, a flight attendant and three passengers. 19 people were injured - 15 passengers, two Ovechkins, including the youngest, 9-year-old Seryozha, and two riot police. Only six of the 11 Ovechkins who were on board remained alive - Olga and her 5 minor brothers and sisters. Of the survivors, two went to trial - Olga and 17-year-old Igor. Others were not subject to age criminal liability, they were transferred to the guardianship of their married sister Lyudmila, who was not involved in the seizure. An open trial took place in Irkutsk that same fall. The hall was packed, there weren't enough seats. Passengers and crew acted as witnesses. Both defendants testified that they “didn’t think about” the passengers when they planned to blow up the plane. Olga partially admitted her guilt and asked for leniency.


Olga in court. At that moment she was 7 months pregnant.


Igor either partially admitted it or completely denied it and asked to be forgiven and not be deprived of his freedom.
Moreover, at the trial, Igor, whom his mother described in his diary as “too self-confident and roguish,” tried to place all the blame for what happened on former leader ensemble, Irkutsk musician-teacher Vladimir Romanenko, thanks to whom “Simeons” got to jazz festivals. Like, it was he who instilled in his older brothers the idea that there was no jazz in the USSR and that recognition could only be achieved abroad. However, the teenager could not stand the confrontation with the teacher and admitted that he had slandered him.


Vladimir Romanenko rehearses with his brothers. Igor is at the piano. 1986
The court received bags of letters from Soviet citizens who wanted demonstrative punishment. “Shoot with the performance shown on TV,” writes an Afghan veteran. “Tie to the tops of birch trees and tear them into pieces,” the female teacher (!) urges. “Shoot so that they know what the Motherland is,” advises the party secretary on behalf of the meeting. The humane Soviet court of the era of perestroika and glasnost decided differently: 8 years in prison for Igor, 6 years for Olga. In reality, they served 4 years. Olga gave birth to a daughter in the colony, and she was also given to Lyudmila.


Olga with her child in prison

The further fate of the Ovechkins

The last time journalists inquired about them was in 2013, on the 25th anniversary of the tragedy. This is what was known at that time. Olga sold fish at the market and gradually became an alcoholic. In 2004, she was beaten to death by her drunken partner during a domestic dispute. Igor played the piano in restaurants in Irkutsk and became an alcoholic. In 1999, a journalist from MK talked to him - he was then indignant at the recent film “Mama” with Mordyukova, Menshikov and Mashkov, based on the story of the Ovechkins, and threatened to sue director Denis Evstigneev. He eventually received a second sentence for selling drugs and was killed by a fellow inmate.


Igor Ovechkin
Sergei and Igor played in restaurants and helped his older sister Lyudmila with housework. Then he went missing.


Igor and Seryozha at a rehearsal in 1986.


9-year-old Seryozha acts as a witness in court, autumn 1988.
Ulyana, who was 10 years old at the time of the hijacking, gave birth to a child at 16, became depressed and drank herself to death. She believes that that flight ruined her life. Due to drunken quarrels with her husband, she threw herself under a car twice. Receives a disability pension.


Still from the 2013 documentary program.
Tatyana, who was 14 in 1988, lives near Irkutsk with her husband and child. She managed to rebuild her life more or less safely.


Still from a 2006 shoot.


And finally, Mikhail, the most talented of all, who played the trombone, according to the teacher, “like a real Negrito,” is the only one of the Ovechkins who managed to escape abroad. In Spain he performed in street jazz bands and lived on alms. Later he suffered a stroke and ended up in wheelchair. As of 2013, he lived in rehabilitation center in Barcelona and... dreamed of returning to Irkutsk.
As the years pass, one thing is clear. Whether out of pride, lack of intelligence or lack of information, the Ovechkins sincerely believed that they would be welcomed abroad with open arms, and not considered dangerous terrorists who took innocent people hostage. The "Simeons" were dazzled by the reception in Japan - sold-out crowds, standing ovations, promises of fame and fortune from local journalists and producers... They did not realize that they aroused the interest of foreigners more as circus monkeys, a funny souvenir from a closed country with its Siberia and "gulags" than like musicians. As one Irkutsk publication concluded, “these were simple rude people with simple, crude dreams - to live like a human being. This is what destroyed them."
Source -

Organized a family musical group " Seven Simeons." On March 8, 1988, they hijacked a Tu-154 plane (tail number 85413) with passengers with the aim of escaping from the USSR.

History of the Ovechkin family

The Ovechkin family lived in a small private house on Detskaya Street. In 1979 mother Ninel Ovechkina was awarded the "Mother Heroine" medal. Father, Ovechkin Dmitry Dmitrievich, died in 1984. Children - Olga, Basil, Dmitriy, Oleg, Alexander, Igor, Tatiana, Michael, Ulyana, Sergey. We studied at school No. 66. The family was friendly and united, mother Ninel Sergeevna enjoyed unquestioning authority in the family.

Almost all the children in the Ovechkin family attended music school. Eldest sons Basil And Dmitriy After finishing school we entered the Irkutsk College of Arts. In 1983, they organized a family ensemble " Seven Simeons". They became widely known in 1985 after participating in the All-Union festival "Jazz-85" in Tbilisi and the Central Television program "Wider Circle".

Hijacking

After touring in Japan, the Ovechkins decided to go live abroad. There was no legal opportunity, so family council all family members except the eldest Lyudmila(she was living separately by this time), they unanimously decided to hijack the plane.

They carefully prepared for the hijacking of the plane. On March 8, 1988, the Ovechkin family, except for Lyudmila, attempted to hijack a Tu-154 passenger plane flying Irkutsk - Kurgan - Leningrad.

The official purpose of the trip was a tour in Leningrad. There is a thorough search when boarding the plane. hand luggage was not produced, which allowed the Ovechkins to bring on board two sawn-off shotguns, 100 rounds of ammunition and improvised explosive devices hidden in musical instruments.

As the plane approached Leningrad, one of the brothers gave the flight attendant a note demanding that they change course and land in London under the threat of the plane exploding.

The Ovechkins forbade passengers to leave their seats, threatening them with sawed-off shotguns. After negotiations, the terrorists were persuaded to allow the plane to land in Finland to refuel. However, in reality, the plane landed at the Veshchevo military airfield not far from the Finnish border. Seeing Soviet soldiers through the windows, the Ovechkins realized that they had been deceived. Dmitry Ovechkin shot and killed a flight attendant Tamara Zharkaya, together with his brothers, tried to break down the cockpit door. According to the recollections of a participant in the events, a police major I. Vlasova, the Ovechkins did not agree to negotiations in principle; the offer to release at least the women and children was followed by a categorical refusal.

The attack on the plane was carried out by police officers. The capture group failed to prevent the terrorists from detonating the explosive device with which they tried to commit suicide: when it became clear that the escape from the USSR had failed, Basil shot Ninel Ovechkin at her request, after which the older brothers attempted to commit suicide by detonating a bomb. However, the explosion turned out to be directed and did not bring the desired result, after which Vasily, Oleg, Dmitry and Alexander They took turns shooting themselves with the same sawn-off shotgun. As a result of the fire that started from the explosion, the plane was completely burned out.

In total, 9 people died - Ninel Ovechkina and her four older sons, a flight attendant and three passengers; 19 people were injured (two Ovechkins, two police officers and 15 passengers). The dead Ovechkins were buried in Vyborg in the village of Veshchevo at the city cemetery.

Court

On September 6, 1988, the trial of the surviving family members began - Igor And Olga Ovechkin, because only they were subject to criminal liability based on age. Olga was sentenced to 6 years in prison, Igor- 8 years (they served only half of their sentences).

During capture and trial Olga was pregnant and gave birth to a daughter while in prison Larisa. Only escaped trial Lyudmila Ovechkina, since she got married long before the capture and left the family. I didn’t know anything about the capture. The court placed the minor Ovechkins under her guardianship. After the trial, the authorities offered Lyudmila to publicly renounce her mother, but she refused.

After the trial

The further fate of the surviving Ovechkins developed differently. Igor Ovechkin played in Irkutsk restaurants, was killed in the pre-trial detention center of the Irkutsk prison. Mikhail Ovechkin moved to St. Petersburg. Olga Ovechkina in 2004 she was killed by her partner during a domestic drunken quarrel. Ulyana She gave birth to a child at the age of 16 and led an antisocial lifestyle. She tried to commit suicide and became disabled. Tatiana got married, gave birth to a child and settled in

On March 8, 1988, passengers of a Tu-154 flying from Irkutsk to Leningrad were in in a great mood. Getting on board, many of them made plans for the evening: some were flying home, others on a visit or on business. Ninel Ovechkina and her children also had their own special plan, for which the exemplary family prepared for almost six months - hijacking a plane and daring escape from Soviet Union.

"Poor" Ovechkins

The Ovechkins lived modestly, their father liked to drink, so their mother, Ninel Sergeevna, was mainly involved in raising 11 children. The woman has always been an authority for all members of a large family, but after becoming a widow in 1984, she further strengthened her influence on her family. It was she who noticed that her boys - Vasily, Dmitry, Oleg, Alexander, Igor, Mikhail and little Sergei- incredibly musical. In 1983, the sons organized the jazz ensemble “Seven Simeons”. The success was colossal. A documentary was made about the gifted musicians. The state, from whose strong embrace they would later want to escape, gave the mother of many children two three-room apartments. The talented seven were accepted into the Gnessin School without competition, but due to tours and constant rehearsals, the “Simeons” left their studies after a year.

In 1987, Ovechkin had an incredible chance for those times - a trip to Japan, where young talents had to perform in front of a huge audience. Perhaps it was these tours that subsequently pushed the brothers to commit a terrible crime. Having broken away from the Union, they no longer wanted to live “in a country of queues and shortages.” Later, one of the surviving Ovechkins would tell investigators that during a tour abroad, the young people were profitable proposition- good contract with a record label English company. Even then the brothers were ready to say yes and stay in a foreign land. But by doing this, they could forever say goodbye to their mother and sisters, who would never have been released from the Soviet Union. Then the musicians decided that in the near future they would leave Sovk at any cost, and began to prepare to escape from the country.

Jokes aside

The flight on the route Irkutsk - Kurgan - Leningrad went smoothly. But when the aircraft landed in Kurgan to refuel and took off again, it became clear that Northern capital the plane will not fly that day. The Ovechkins began to act quickly, according to the previously worked out scheme. Through the flight attendant, the brothers gave the pilots a note in which they demanded that they abruptly change the route and fly to London. Otherwise, the invaders promised to blow up the plane. At first the pilots thought the musicians were joking. However, when the senior Ovechkins took out sawed-off shotguns and began to threaten the passengers, it became clear that the criminals were determined. It was necessary to neutralize the armed terrorists as soon as possible before they killed someone, but how could this be done? The second pilot suggested that the commander deal with the invaders himself. The crew had personal weapons - Makarov pistols. In case of danger, pilots had the right to shoot to kill. However, fearing the consequences, they decided to abandon the risky plan and wait for instructions from the ground. There, KGB officers took over the leadership of the operation. At first they tried to come to an agreement with the young terrorists: they were offered to disembark all passengers in exchange for refueling the plane and a guaranteed flight to Helsinki. But the “Seven Simeons”, led by their mother, did not want to make concessions. Then the flight engineer of the aircraft, Innokenty Stupakov, entered into negotiations with the armed criminals. The man was given clear instructions - to convince the Ovechkins that fuel was running out, which meant they needed to land urgently. The young people believed Stupakov and were ready to land anywhere. Anywhere, but outside the Soviet Union. After some consultation, the invaders gave the command to set course for Finland. Flight attendant Tamara Zharkaya was the next to negotiate with the brothers. She told the criminals who were beginning to get nervous that the aircraft would soon land in the Finnish city of Kotka. From that moment on, the flight crew's task was to simulate a flight to Finland. It was decided to land at the Veshchevo military airfield, near Leningrad, the crew hoped that the Ovechkins would not notice the deception and, as soon as the aircraft landed, the terrorists would be neutralized.

Ninel Ovechkina

At 16:05 the plane landed safely in Veshchevo, everything was going well. The newly minted terrorists had no idea that they were still in their homeland. But then something happened that broke the successful course of the entire capture operation. Suddenly, Soviet military personnel began to approach the aircraft from all sides. It dawned on the Ovechkins - all this time they remained in the “fucking Sovka”, the stories about Finland were a lie! In anger, 24-year-old Dmitry immediately shot flight attendant Tamara Zharkaya at point-blank range. At the same moment, Ninel Ovechkina gave the command to storm the cockpit. But the attempt to break through to the pilots was a fiasco, then the brothers threatened to start shooting passengers if the plane was not refueled and allowed to take off calmly. The terrorists flatly refused to release at least the women and children. When the family saw the tanker, they sent a flight engineer outside to open the fuel tanks. In fact, there was a gas station, but it worked as a kind of screen - a whole performance was taking place outside. Everything was subordinated to one goal - to stall for time until two capture groups approached the plane. According to the plan, several armed fighters of the special group were supposed to get on board the Tu-154 through the window in the cockpit, others through the entrance in the tail. When the plane took off and began to taxi onto the runway, the operation to capture and neutralize the Ovechkins began.

Terrorists' backup plan

In 1988, the USSR law enforcement system was not yet designed to counter terrorists whose targets were civilians. Simply because the terrorist attacks themselves or attempts to carry them out were extremely rare one-time actions. Accordingly, mechanisms for capturing terrorists and releasing hostages were not developed. There were no units specially trained for such actions in each big city, regional center. The patrol service officers acted as special forces. This explains how they acted when trying to neutralize the Ovechkin brothers.

The first to attack were the fighters in the cockpit. They opened fire, but the unfortunate shooters did not hit the brothers, but managed to wound four passengers. The Ovechkins turned out to be much more accurate; in the return firefight, the terrorists wounded the fighters, who eventually disappeared behind the armored door of the cockpit. The assault from the tail was also unsuccessful; after opening the hatch, the commandos began shooting at the legs of the invaders, but it was all in vain. According to eyewitnesses, the terrorists rushed around the cabin like animals driven into a cage. But at some point, Ninel gathered four sons around her: Vasily, Dmitry, Oleg and Alexander. The passengers did not immediately understand what these people were trying to do. Meanwhile, the Ovechkins said goodbye to each other and set fire to one of the homemade bombs. It turns out that even before the plane was hijacked, the family agreed to commit suicide if the operation failed. A second later, an explosion occurred, from which only Alexander died. The plane caught fire, panic began, and a fire broke out.

But the terrorists continued the work they had started. Ninel ordered her eldest son Vasily to kill her, he shot his mother without hesitation. Dmitry was the next to stand under the barrel of the sawn-off shotgun, then Oleg. 17-year-old Igor did not want to say goodbye to life and hid in the toilet - he knew that if his brother found him, he would not survive. But Vasily had no time to search, there was very little time left. Having dealt with Oleg, he shot himself. Meanwhile, one of the passengers opened a door that was not equipped with a ladder; fleeing the fire, people began to jump out of the plane, all of them received serious injuries and fractures. When the capture group finally got on board, the fighters began to take people out. At eight o'clock in the evening the operation to free the hostages was completed. As a result of the hijacking attempt, four civilians died - three passengers and a flight attendant. 15 people received various injuries. Of the seven Ovechkins, five died.

In 1988, an event that shocked everyone occurred in the USSR. On March 8, the large Irkutsk Ovechkin family, consisting of a mother and 11 children, attempted to hijack a Tu-154 plane with the aim of escaping from the Soviet Union abroad.

However, their idea failed: after the aircraft landed in the wrong place, it was stormed. At the same time, five newly minted terrorists died: mother, Ninel Ovechkina, and her four eldest sons. A show trial was held over the surviving children. We would like to highlight this topic and tell how the Ovechkin family hijacked the plane.

In that ill-fated year, the Ovechkin family consisted of a mother, Ninel Sergeevna, and 11 children aged from 9 to 32 years. There was another, the eldest daughter, Lyudmila, but by that time she had already married and lived separately from her relatives, and therefore did not participate in the hijacking of the plane. There was once a father in the family, but he died back in 1984 from severe beatings inflicted on him by his eldest sons. However, then there was no evidence, and if there was such an incident in the biography of the Ovechkins, then why did the sons beat own father- unclear.

From left to right: Olga, Tatyana, Dmitry, Ninel Sergeevna with Ulyana and Sergey, Alexander, Mikhail, Oleg, Vasily

The male Ovechkin family consisted of seven brothers, who early years studied music. Even in 1983, they turned to a teacher at the Irkutsk School of Arts for help to help them create a family jazz ensemble, the so-called jazz band. The teacher was not averse to it, and as a result, the jazz group “Seven Simeons” appeared.

Gradually, the newly formed group began to gain popularity. The brothers began to be invited to play at local events held in Irkutsk. They even performed in the city park during the holidays. But truly great success came to them in 1984, when they took part in the “Jazz-85” festival at the national level. After him, “Seven Simeons” began to be invited to film television programs and even made a documentary about them. In 1987, the Ovechkin family, consisting of mother and sons, was invited to tour to Japan. It was then that the head of the family, Ninel Ovechkina, having been on the other side iron curtain, came to the conclusion that they were very unlucky to be born and live in the Soviet Union. That's why the idea of ​​fleeing the USSR came up.

LONG PREPARATION

While touring Japan, everyone came to the conclusion that with such talent and success they could achieve real fame abroad. After returning home, the Ovechkin family, led by Ninelya Sergeevna, began to hatch an escape plan. Since in the USSR everyone would not be allowed abroad, the family decided to hijack a plane on domestic airlines and then fly it to another country.

The implementation of the plan was scheduled for March 8, 1988. On that day, the entire Ovechkin family, except eldest daughter Lyudmila, who was not in the know, bought tickets for a Tu-154 plane flying Irkutsk - Kurgan - Leningrad. Friends and airport employees were told that the Ovechkins were going on tour and therefore were taking a lot of musical instruments with them. Naturally, they were not given a thorough search. As a result, the criminals managed to smuggle two sawn-off shotguns, one hundred rounds of ammunition and homemade explosives on board the aircraft. All this stuff was hidden in musical instruments. Moreover, by the time the plane was hijacked, the Ovechkin family had already managed to sell all the things from the house and buy new clothes in order to pass as one of our own abroad.

PLANE hijacking

Nine-year-old Sergei Ovechkin

Already at the very end of its journey, when the plane was approaching Leningrad, the Ovechkins, through a flight attendant, passed a note demanding to fly to London or any other capital of the country. Western Europe. Otherwise they threaten to blow up the plane. However, the crew of the aircraft decided to cheat and told the terrorists that the plane would not have enough fuel and would therefore need to refuel. It was stated that the plane would be refueled in Finland, but the pilots who contacted ground services landed the plane at a military airfield near the Soviet-Finnish border.

TRAGEDY ON BOARD

Olga Ovechkina at trial

Having noticed Soviet soldiers at the airfield, the Ovechkins realized that they had decided to deceive them, and opened fire. One of the older brothers shot the flight attendant, after which they all tried to break down the door to the cockpit. Meanwhile, the assault began. Realizing that they had failed, Ninel Sergeevna demanded to be shot, after which the plane was blown up. One of the older brothers shot his mother, but the bomb explosion was targeted and the desired effect could not be achieved. But as a result, three passengers were killed and 36 more were injured. After this, the older brothers - Vasily, Oleg, Dmitry and Alexander - took turns shooting themselves with a sawn-off shotgun. The explosion started a fire, as a result of which the plane was completely burned out.

CONSEQUENCES

On September 8, 1988, the trial of the surviving Ovechkins was held. Older brother Igor and sister Olga received eight and six years in prison, respectively. The minor Ovechkins were initially sent to Orphanage. However, then she took them under her wing elder sister Lyudmila. Olga, whose daughter was already born in prison, and Igor served only half of their sentences and were released.

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Ovechkin family - the large family from Irkutsk, which captured a Tu-154 aircraft (tail number 85413) on March 8, 1988 with the aim of escaping from the USSR.

Background

In 1988, the Ovechkin family consisted of a mother and 11 children (the father, Dmitry Dmitrievich, died on May 3, 1984, a few days after the beatings inflicted by his eldest sons), including 7 sons who were part of the family jazz ensemble “Seven Simeons” and officially were listed as musicians during the association of city parks "Leisure".

Mother - Ninel Sergeevna (51 years old), worked as a saleswoman. Children - Lyudmila (32 years old), Olga (28 years old), Vasily (26 years old), Dmitry (24 years old), Oleg (21 years old), Alexander (19 years old), Igor (17 years old), Tatyana (14 years old), Mikhail (13 years old), Ulyana (10 years old), Sergey (9 years old). The family lived in Irkutsk, in two three-room apartments on Detskaya Street, building 24. In addition, they retained a private house in the suburb of Rabochee with a plot of eight acres (currently the site of the house is abandoned, and the house itself is dilapidated).

The eldest daughter Lyudmila lived separately from the rest of the family and did not take part in the hijacking of the plane.

The ensemble was organized at the end of 1983 and soon achieved victories in a number of music competitions in various cities of the USSR, became widely known: the Ovechkins were written about in the press, a documentary was made, etc. At the end of 1987, after a tour in Japan, the family decided to flee the USSR.

Airplane hijacking

The attack on the plane was carried out by police officers. The capture group failed to prevent the terrorists from detonating the explosive device with which they tried to commit suicide: when it became clear that the escape from the USSR was unsuccessful, Vasily shot Ninel Ovechkina at her request, after which the older brothers tried to commit suicide by detonating a bomb . However, the explosion turned out to be targeted and did not bring the desired result, after which Vasily, Oleg, Dmitry and Alexander shot themselves in turn with the same sawn-off shotgun. As a result of the fire that started from the explosion, the plane was completely burned out.

In total, 9 people were killed: five terrorists (Ninel Ovechkina and her four eldest sons), a flight attendant and three passengers (the passengers were shot as a result of a botched hijacking); 19 people were injured and injured (two Ovechkins, two police officers and 15 passengers). The Ovechkins are buried in Vyborg in the village of Veshchevo at the city cemetery. [ specify]

Court

Olga Ovechkina at trial

Sergei played in restaurants with Igor for some time, then traces of him were lost.

According to 2002 data, Tatyana got married, gave birth to a child and settled in Cheremkhovo. In 2006, Tatyana took part in the release of the documentary series “The Investigation Conducted...”, which was dedicated to the capture.

Reflection in culture

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