The tragic story of the Ovechkin family, who tried on the role of terrorists. How the Ovechkin family hijacked a plane (5 photos)

On March 8, 1988, during the next flight from Irkutsk to Leningrad, a man who carried a sawn-off shotgun and homemade explosive devices on board the plane in a case with a double bass, passed a note to a flight attendant, who an hour later he himself shot at point-blank range. The note read: “set course for London. Don't descend, otherwise we'll blow up the plane. Now fulfill our demands." Sitting next to the man were his accomplice, his nine-year-old brother Sergei, eight other brothers and sisters and the family's beloved mother, who was killed later that day.

Between 1950 and the collapse of the USSR in 1991, hijackers attempted to take control of more than sixty Soviet aircraft. The hijackers' demands were always the same: to redirect the plane to another country behind the Iron Curtain.

To escape from Soviet Union, the hijackers risked the lives of other people. Few of them lived to see their destination with their own eyes: some were shot as soon as they set foot on the ground, others were immediately arrested, and only a small part escaped.

Article about the hijacking of an airplane by the Ovechkin family in East Siberian Pravda, March 3, 1988

Among the hijackers were dissident intellectuals who were not appreciated, there were disgruntled officers and even schoolchildren. However, none of them were as unusual as the Ovechkin family. The mother and her eleven children grew up in absolute poverty in Siberia. They gained international fame by dying terrible death as a result of an escape plan that is not so daring as it is naive.

Ninel Ovechkina's mother accidentally shot herself for the first time when she was five years old. She spent her childhood in an orphanage. Later she got married, but her husband was an alcoholic and after another binge he tried to shoot his sons with a hunting rifle. At that time, private commercial activity was officially prohibited, but the small Ovechkin farm survived by selling its produce at local markets.

Ninel Ovechkina

The family grew, the husband periodically disappeared for several weeks, and then Ninel became a farmer, and her children became farm laborers. Children milked cows and spread manure under the watchful eye of a caring mother who gave precise instructions. Ninel was principled, but kind. She loved her children. Later, one of the sons, Mikhail, recalled his mother: “We couldn’t tell her no. It’s not that we were afraid of her, we couldn’t even think of ignoring her request.” Mikhail played the trombone and was thirteen years old at the time of his escape.

The father of the family, Dmitry, died in 1984. The mother replaced the father for the children. Tatyana, who was fourteen years old at the time of the hijacking, said later: “We were good children, we never drank or smoked, we never went to discos.” Neighbors noted that the Ovechkins rarely spoke to strangers while in their own company after school. Each new purchase or important decision discussed at the family council.

Siberian Dixieland

The simple life of a family on the outskirts of the industrial city of Irkutsk was changed by one meeting. Vladimir Romanenko, a music teacher, noticed the Ovechkin siblings' love for jazz while their group was performing a folk song after school. In a few seconds, a challenging idea formed in his head: these guys from the same family would become a Dixieland group from Siberia. Romanenko divided the guys into groups and taught them to play Louis Armstrong and other interpretations. This is how the group “Seven Simeons” was born, named after a Russian fairy tale.

Success came to them instantly. When Gorbachev's perestroika made Western culture not only fashionable, but also legal, the phenomenon of the “peasant family jazz orchestra” appeared. The family begins touring Soviet palaces culture. We didn't understand jazz. People applauded politely at the end of the songs, not knowing how to react and clapping in unfamiliar rhythms, not daring to get up from their chairs. There were seven boys in the group. Their sisters did not study music. And, although the older brothers were experienced musicians, the eyes of the audience were always drawn to two little boys, Mikhail and Sergei, who played a banjo that seemed larger than themselves.

In Irkutsk they became a sensation and a symbol of the city. The Ovechkins moved from their estate to two large adjacent apartments, they were given additional coupons for food (this was the case in the USSR from the mid-80s until its collapse), the eldest of the two children was sent to a prestigious music school in Moscow. But in new apartment There was often no water, there was not enough food, and again, in order to survive, Ninel begins to distill vodka and sell it illegally in the market during the day or in the apartment at night. The Ovechkins knew what they deserved better life. Existing when after concerts they returned to an apartment where there was not enough food became simply humiliating. The group's leader, Vasily, became disillusioned and dropped out of the music academy, claiming that the classically trained professors could not teach him jazz. He saw his horizons much further. The turning point was a trip to Japan. The brothers who survived the hijacking said they were shocked in Japan to see neon lights, supermarket shelves filled with food bought without coupons, and, what shocked them, flowers in toilets. Seven Simeons could have followed the path blazed by other Soviet defectors, such as dancers Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. While on tour, they might ask for asylum in one of the Western embassies. But their mother, who remained at home, would most likely have faced questions from intelligence agents, and even possibly a criminal case would have been brought against her for not promptly informing the authorities about the possible betrayal. They would never see her again.

Plan

From the 1920s until the collapse of the USSR, Soviet citizens could not leave the country freely; only a few traveled on business trips or on cultural tours. The Ovechkins understood that as nationally famous performers, they would never be allowed to emigrate. They came up with a plan. Mikhail later said: “Before we did anything, we agreed that if the hijacking failed, we would commit suicide rather than surrender to the police. We will all die together." The Ovechkins bought a hunting rifle from a friend. A farmer sold them gunpowder, from which they made several primitive homemade explosive devices. Finally, they took the instrument with a double bass, the case of which, due to its size, could not pass through the security scanner. The police did not search the celebrities boarding a flight to Leningrad for the next concert, and Ninel, her three daughters and seven sons boarded the plane.

One of the many photographs of the musicians' family

The family sold everything they owned and dressed themselves in new outfits that would be greeted by the world's media as they stepped off the plane in London. However, like many previous hijackers, their destination remained a fantasy. The TU-154 they were flying in did not have enough fuel to fly further than Scandinavia. The security officer advised the crew: “Land the plane on the Soviet side of the border with Finland, tell them that they are already in Finland. Promise them that in exchange for the release of the passengers, they will be given safe passage to Helsinki." The authorities wanted to use the same tactics and the same airport as during the hijacking five years ago, but upon landing, when the plane stopped, Dmitry noticed Russian inscriptions on the refueling trucks. As a warning, he shot flight attendant Tamara Zharkaya and demanded that the plane take off right now.

The ensemble "Seven Simeons" was officially listed as musicians in the association of city parks "Leisure".

Mother - Ninel Sergeevna (51 years old, “heroine mother”) was born into the family of a single mother who was killed during an attempted theft (according to another version: “The mother goes out into the field to pick up frozen potatoes and receives a fatal bullet from a drunken watchman”); father was previously convicted; worked as a salesperson. Children - Lyudmila (32 years old), Olga (28 years old), Vasily (26 years old, drums), Dmitry (24 years old, trumpet), Oleg (21 years old, saxophone), Alexander (19 years old, double bass), Igor (17 years old , piano), Tatyana (14 years old), Mikhail (13 years old, trombone), Ulyana (10 years old), Sergey (9 years old, banjo). In the mid-80s, the younger Simeon was a student of the musical platoon of one of military units, located in the so-called Red Barracks of Irkutsk, where his older brothers served conscript service in the same musical platoon, one of them was a corporal. The family lived in Irkutsk, in two three-room apartments on Sinyushina Gora. In addition, they were retained private house in the suburb of Rabochee on Detskaya Street, building 24, 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, filmed documentary etc. At the end of 1987, after touring in Japan, the family decided to flee the USSR.

Airplane hijacking

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

Reflection in culture

A documentary film was made in 1989.

In 1999, based on the story of the Ovechkin family, it was filmed feature film"Mother ". The names of the characters were changed (instead of the Ovechkins - the Yuryevs), the name of the ensemble (instead of “Seven Simeons” - “Merry Family”), the number of children, the significant circumstances of the hijacking of the plane and the assault. In general, the plot of the film is remotely related to reality. The Ovechkins did not like the film due to the distortion of the reasons why their film prototype family decided to take over.

The St. Petersburg band Tequilajazzz’s song “Airplane” describes a situation involving a fraudulent landing of a plane hijacked by terrorists in a Leningrad military unit.

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Notes

An excerpt characterizing the Ovechkin Family

Having written the words L "empereur Napoleon [Emperor Napoleon] using this alphabet in numbers, it turns out that the sum of these numbers is equal to 666 and that therefore Napoleon is the beast about which was predicted in the Apocalypse. In addition, having written the words quarante deux using the same alphabet [ forty-two], that is, the limit that was set for the beast to say great and blasphemous, the sum of these numbers depicting the quarante deux is again equal to 666, from which it follows that the limit of Napoleon’s power came in 1812, in which the French emperor turned 42 This prediction greatly amazed Pierre, and he often asked himself the question of what exactly would put a limit to the power of the beast, that is, Napoleon, and, based on the same images of words with numbers and calculations, Pierre wrote. in the answer to this question: L "empereur Alexandre? La nation Russe? [Emperor Alexander? Russian people?] He counted the letters, but the sum of the numbers came out much more or less than 666. Once, while doing these calculations, he wrote his name - Comte Pierre Besouhoff; The sum of the numbers also did not come out far. He changed the spelling, putting z instead of s, added de, added article le, and still did not get the desired result. Then it occurred to him that if the answer to the question he was looking for lay in his name, then the answer would certainly include his nationality. He wrote Le Russe Besuhoff and, counting the numbers, he got 671. Only 5 were extra; 5 means “e”, the same “e” that was discarded in the article before the word L "empereur. Having discarded the "e" in the same way, although incorrectly, Pierre received the desired answer; L "Russe Besuhof, equal to 666 ti. This discovery excited him. How, by what connection he was connected with that great event that was predicted in the Apocalypse, he did not know; but he did not doubt this connection for a minute. His love for Rostova, the Antichrist, the invasion of Napoleon, the comet, 666, l "empereur Napoleon and l "Russe Besuhof - all this together was supposed to ripen, burst out and lead him out of that enchanted, insignificant world of Moscow habits in which he felt himself captive, and lead him to great feats and great happiness.
Pierre, on the eve of that Sunday on which the prayer was read, promised the Rostovs to bring them from Count Rostopchin, with whom he was well acquainted, both an appeal to Russia and the latest news from the army. In the morning, having stopped by Count Rastopchin, Pierre found him having just arrived a courier from the army.
The courier was one of the Moscow ballroom dancers Pierre knew.
- For God's sake, can you make it easier for me? - said the courier, - my bag is full of letters to my parents.
Among these letters was a letter from Nikolai Rostov to his father. Pierre took this letter. In addition, Count Rastopchin gave Pierre the sovereign’s appeal to Moscow, just printed, the latest orders for the army and his latest poster. Having looked through the orders for the army, Pierre found in one of them, between the news of the wounded, killed and awarded, the name of Nikolai Rostov, who was awarded the 4th degree by George for his bravery in the Ostrovnensky case, and in the same order the appointment of Prince Andrei Bolkonsky as commander of the Jaeger regiment. Although he did not want to remind the Rostovs about Bolkonsky, Pierre could not resist the desire to please them with the news of his son’s award and, leaving with him the appeal, poster and other orders, in order to bring them to dinner himself, he sent a printed order and a letter to Rostov.
A conversation with Count Rostopchin, his tone of concern and haste, a meeting with a courier who carefreely talked about how badly things were going in the army, rumors about spies found in Moscow, about a paper circulating in Moscow, which says that Napoleon promises to to be in both Russian capitals, talking about the expected arrival of the sovereign the next day - all this with new strength aroused in Pierre that feeling of excitement and expectation that had not left him since the appearance of the comet and especially since the beginning of the war.
Pierre had long had the idea of enrolling in military service, and he would have fulfilled it if he had not been hindered, firstly, by his belonging to that Masonic society, with which he was bound by an oath and which preached eternal peace and the abolition of war, and, secondly, what he, looking at large number Muscovites, who put on uniforms and preached patriotism, were for some reason ashamed to take such a step. The main reason why he did not carry out his intention to enter military service was the vague idea that he was l "Russe Besuhof, having the meaning of the animal number 666, that his participation in the great matter of setting the limit of power to the beast, which says great and blasphemy, it was determined from eternity and that therefore he should not undertake anything and wait for what must happen.

At the Rostovs', as always on Sundays, some of their close acquaintances dined.
Pierre arrived earlier to find them alone.
Pierre had gained so much weight this year that he would have been ugly if he had not been so tall, large in limbs, and so strong that he obviously carried his weight easily.
He, puffing and muttering something to himself, entered the stairs. The coachman no longer asked him whether to wait. He knew that when the count was with the Rostovs, it was until twelve o’clock. The Rostovs' lackeys joyfully rushed to take off his cloak and accept his stick and hat. Pierre, as was his club habit, left his stick and hat in the hall.
The first face he saw from the Rostovs was Natasha. Even before he saw her, he, taking off his cloak in the hall, heard her. She sang solfege in the hall. He realized that she had not sung since her illness, and therefore the sound of her voice surprised and delighted him. He quietly opened the door and saw Natasha in her purple dress, which she had worn at mass, walking around the room and singing. She walked backwards towards him when he opened the door, but when she turned sharply and saw his fat, surprised face, she blushed and quickly approached him.
“I want to try singing again,” she said. “It’s still a job,” she added, as if apologizing.
- And wonderful.
– I’m so glad you came! I'm so happy today! - she said with the same animation that Pierre had not seen in her for a long time. – You know, Nicholas received St. George's Cross. I'm so proud of him.
- Well, I sent an order. Well, I don’t want to disturb you,” he added and wanted to go into the living room.
Natasha stopped him.
- Count, is it bad that I sing? - she said, blushing, but without taking her eyes off, looking questioningly at Pierre.
- No... Why? On the contrary... But why are you asking me?
“I don’t know myself,” Natasha quickly answered, “but I wouldn’t want to do anything that you wouldn’t like.” I believe you in everything. You don’t know how important you are to me and how much you have done for me!..” She spoke quickly and not noticing how Pierre blushed at these words. “I saw in the same order, he, Bolkonsky (she said this word quickly, in a whisper), he is in Russia and is serving again. “What do you think,” she said quickly, apparently in a hurry to speak because she was afraid for her strength, “will he ever forgive me?” Will he have any ill feelings against me? How do you think? How do you think?
“I think...” said Pierre. “He has nothing to forgive... If I were in his place...” Through the connection of memories, Pierre’s imagination instantly transported him to the time when he, comforting her, told her that if he were not he, but best man in peace and free, then he would be on his knees asking for her hand, and the same feeling of pity, tenderness, love would overcome him, and the same words would be on his lips. But she didn't give him time to say them.
“Yes, you are,” she said, pronouncing this word “you” with delight, “another matter.” I don’t know a kinder, more generous, better person than you, and there cannot be one. If you had not been there then, and even now, I don’t know what would have happened to me, because... - Tears suddenly poured into her eyes; she turned, raised the notes to her eyes, began to sing and began to walk around the hall again.
At the same time, Petya ran out of the living room.
Petya was now a handsome, ruddy fifteen-year-old boy with thick, red lips, similar to Natasha. He was preparing for university, but lately, with his comrade Obolensky, secretly decided that he would join the hussars.
Petya ran out to his namesake to talk about the matter.
He asked him to find out if he would be accepted into the hussars.
Pierre walked through the living room, not listening to Petya.
Petya tugged at his hand to attract his attention.
- Well, what’s my business, Pyotr Kirilych. For God's sake! There is only hope for you,” said Petya.
- Oh yes, it's your business. To the hussars? I'll tell you, I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything today.
- Well, mon cher, did you get the manifesto? - asked the old count. - And the countess was at mass at the Razumovskys, she heard a new prayer. Very good, he says.
“Got it,” answered Pierre. - Tomorrow the sovereign will be... An extraordinary meeting of the nobility and, they say, a set of ten out of a thousand. Yes, congratulations.
- Yes, yes, thank God. Well, what about the army?
“Our people retreated again.” They say it’s already near Smolensk,” Pierre answered.
- My God, my God! - said the count. -Where is the manifesto?
- Appeal! Oh yes! - Pierre began to look in his pockets for papers and could not find them. Continuing to pat his pockets, he kissed the hand of the countess as she entered and looked around restlessly, apparently waiting for Natasha, who was no longer singing, but also did not come into the living room.
“By God, I don’t know where I put him,” he said.

Fame comes in different forms.

The musical ensemble of the Ovechkin brothers "Seven Semyons" was quite famous in the Soviet Union. In 1988 they became famous throughout the world. But who needs such fame?

AT FIRST

By 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”.

Mother - Ninel Sergeevna (51 years old). 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 ages of all family members are given at the time of capture). The family lived in Irkutsk, on Detskaya Street, house 24.

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, and became widely known: the Ovechkins were written about in the press, a documentary film was made, etc. At the end of 1987, after a tour in Japan, the family decided escape from the USSR.

Airplane hijacking

On March 8, 1988, the Ovechkin family - Ninel and her 10 children - flew from Irkutsk on a Tu-154 plane flying on the route 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 carried out, which allowed the criminals to bring on board sawn-off shotguns 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 the uniform of Soviet soldiers through the windows [source not specified 252 days], the terrorists realized that they had been deceived. Dmitry Ovechkin shot and killed flight attendant Tamara Zharkaya.

The attack on the plane was carried out by units of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. As a result of the actions of the capture group [source not specified 252 days], three passengers were killed and another 36 were injured. 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, 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 the Ovechkins shot themselves in turn with one sawn-off shotgun. As a result of the fire that started from the explosion, the plane was completely burned out.

A total of 9 people died during the assault: a flight attendant, three passengers, Ninel Ovechkina and her four eldest sons.

On September 6, 1988, a trial began in Irkutsk over the surviving family members, who, based on age, were subject to criminal liability- Igor and Olga Ovechkin. The court sentenced: Olga - 6 years in prison, Igor - 8 years (they served only half of their sentences).

At the time of the capture and trial, Olga was pregnant; her daughter Larisa was born in custody and was taken in by Olga’s sister, Lyudmila.

The minor Ovechkins were transferred to orphanage, from where they were later taken by Lyudmila, who had three children of her own.

Further fate surviving Ovechkins

Igor Ovechkin was arrested a second time, this time for drug distribution. Some sources report that he was arrested in the 1990s and then killed in prison by a fellow inmate.

Olga Ovechkina was killed by her partner on June 8, 2004 during a domestic drunken quarrel. Olga’s son, who was born shortly before, was also taken in by Lyudmila.

Mikhail Ovechkin moved to St. Petersburg, where he participated in the jazz group “Easy Winners” and others. Currently he plays in the street jazz band Jinx Jazz Band (Spain).

Ulyana gave birth to a child at the age of 16 and led an antisocial lifestyle. She tried to commit suicide and became disabled.

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

There is no publicly available information about Tatyana’s fate.

Reflection in culture

In 1999, based on the story of the Ovechkin family, the feature film “Mama” was shot.

04/23/1999 at 00:00, views: 72458

They tried to escape from the USSR. It can be considered the latter: the hijacking of a plane with hostages, followed by a bloody denouement, took place in 1988. There were three years left before the collapse of the country. Of the 11 terrorists, six survived: a pregnant woman, a minor teenager and four minors. 11 years have passed since that terrible March 8th. All this time, human curiosity did not allow either the criminals who had served their sentences or the growing children to relax for a minute. Terrible glory followed them on their heels. With the release of the film “Mama,” interest in the Ovechkins surged with renewed vigor. They again became the subject of hunting for curious people. The Ovechkins categorically refuse to meet with journalists. But for MK they made an exception. Our reporter not only met these people, but also lived in their family... - I am proud of my last name. I will never change it. This is my family. And we will sue Evstigneev. Nobody even asked our opinion. “We learned everything from the newspapers,” fumes one of the prototypes of the film “Mama,” Igor. “I found a lawyer who will handle the case, and he has no doubt that the law is on our side.” After all, everything had just started to calm down, and then again they were shouting on all corners: Ovechkins, Ovechkins... Today information about terrorists and their hostages has become as familiar as a weather report, and no longer evokes almost any emotions in Russians. Then, 11 years ago, the seizure of a plane with hostages on the territory of the USSR for the purpose of hijacking was not just an out-of-the-ordinary event - it was a shock. And when it became known that the invaders - big family from Siberia, a musical group that included children, the whole country froze in shock. The terrorists, paradoxically, were very naive. They demanded that the pilots fly to London, not even suspecting that they could be extradited Soviet authorities, and if not, according to British laws, the Ovechkins faced a life sentence. Why then was the decision made to seize the plane against the interests of the hostages? According to the direct participants in the assault, it was for ideological reasons, so that in future other hijackers would be discouraged. There were 11 terrorists on the plane. The mother, Ninel Sergeevna Ovechkina, and the eldest sons - Vasily, Oleg, Dmitry and Alexander - died. The rest ended up in the dock. The trial lasted 7 months. 18 volumes of the case were written with various testimonies. And on September 23, the Leningrad Regional Court made a decision: “For armed hijacking of an aircraft with the aim of hijacking it outside the USSR, Olga Ovechkina was sentenced to 6 years in prison, Igor Ovechkin - to 8. Four - Sergei, Ulyana, Tatyana and Mikhail - were released from criminal liability due to childhood." The mining town of Cheremkhovo is located 170 km from Irkutsk. Before entering there is a poster - "The health of the people is the wealth of the country." At 8 pm the city streets are empty. Here they drink everything that burns, and all year round wear winter hats. Here, every month, information appears about missing children who are never found. Here, three-year-old kids fight with dogs in the market over a stray fish head. The Ovechkins found shelter here. We knew that they refused to communicate with journalists, but we still came. We arrived in the evening - trains run here three times a day. And suddenly: “Come into the house, only suicides ride on the evening train.” So spend the night already. We were seated at the table. After the trial, the younger "Simeons" were offered to be sold to Amsterdam. The eldest daughter, Lyudmila, the only one of the 11 Ovechkin children, was lucky enough at one time, long before the plane was hijacked, to get married and leave Irkutsk. The second daughter, Olga, was forbidden by her mother and brothers to choose her own destiny; her betrothed turned out to be a Caucasian. “Have I forgotten how the chocks mocked us Russians in the army?” - Vasya reproached her. “It took me a long time to get used to this outback,” says older sister Ovechkin. - Gradually, of course, I got used to it. I’ve been working at the open-pit mine for 15 years now, sorting coal. Work - in two days. The rest of the time I work part-time in the market. To earn a piece of bread, Lyudmila sells candies, cookies, and marshmallows all day in 40-degree frost. She has chronic bronchitis, but she is glad that there is at least such a job. “Okay, Seryozhka is helping,” sighs Lyuda. - The same one who was wounded on the plane... In 1988, Sergei turned 9 years old. He knew nothing about the family’s plans; the younger ones were not privy to criminal plans. He still didn’t fully understand why brother shot his mother, why the plane burned down, why his leg hurt so much. Now he is 20. - That year I was assigned to the Cheremkhovo music boarding school. I played the saxophone. Then I tried to enter the music school in Irkutsk. The first year they immediately told me: “You know, your name is still well known, so you’d better come back in a year.” For three years I've been knocking down thresholds admissions committee. There is no more strength. And I’ve already abandoned the tool. I'll probably join the army. The summons has already arrived. Serezha has a bullet wound in his left thigh. The operation was not performed. Doctors believed that the body would eventually reject the bullet. After that ill-fated International women's day Lyudmila took Ulyana and Tanya to her place. Seryozha and Misha were also constantly at home; their boarding school was located next door. Yes, there were three of our own. And soon another “daughter” appeared - Larisa. Sibling Olga gave birth to her in the colony. Now 25-year-old Tanya got married, gave birth to a child and lives in Cheremkhovo. Ulya works and lives in Irkutsk, Misha - in St. Petersburg. This family eats once a day, and that’s what they whip up quickly. They don't have time anymore. There is a lot of work. 6 cows, 6 pigs, 12 chickens require care. In the kitchen there is one round table for everyone. The room has one large bed. There are photographs of my mother on the walls. Even the old custom in the family remained: if any problem or question arose, do not solve it alone. At the family council they will discuss everything together. A last word now remains with Lyudmila, as it used to be with her mother. However, photographs, letters from relatives and the “Seven Simeons” records have not survived. In March 1988, 2 huge bags of records were confiscated from the family. “We believe that our mother raised us well,” the Ovechkins recall, “no one went to the cinema, no one jerked at discos, no one drank vodka in basements.” But they worked from morning to night. Money was needed. How can we feed such a family without them?! Today our children also have no time to go for walks, and their elders don’t let them in. Tears suddenly appear in Lyudmila's eyes. - You know, I wanted to become a journalist. I even tried to write. Mother didn't give it. Then they thought I would become an actress. And then she told me: “What an actress you are, look at your rough hands, and your conversation is not the same. Throw this rubbish out of your head and better get busy with the garden.” So I didn’t get anywhere. I couldn’t go against my mother’s will. After the trial, the authorities suggested that Lyudmila publicly renounce her mother. Her house was constantly crowded with journalists and business people . One businessman from Amsterdam even offered to “give up” the younger Ovechkins to him for good money in order to revive the “Seven Simeons” ensemble, which had become scandalous. Lyudmila refused everything. Together with the Ovechkins we watch the film “Mama”, then documentary footage of the tragedy of March 8, 1988. “I didn’t even know anything about their departure,” says Lyudmila sadly. “That day we were just going to visit our mother with the children... Now March 8 is not a holiday for us, but a day of mourning.” When charred corpses appear on the screen, Lyudmila orders all the children to leave the room. She herself cannot hold back her tears. Turns away. - I was called to a plane that had already burned down. I was terrified. In my presence, the fighters threw everyone to the ground, handcuffed them, and beat them on the legs. In total, there were 9 burnt corpses on the plane. Four were lying together, near the toilet. It was impossible to make out which of them was which. The remains were numbered, packed in plastic bags and taken away for examination. They were buried near Vyborg, in the village of Veshchevo, under numbers. “We were there only once, but we never found the grave,” says Lyudmila. - But we haven’t gone there for 10 years, and we’re unlikely to go there. There is no money, and it is not known on which hillock to place the flowers... Terrorist in labor Olga gave her last testimony in court while sitting. She was 7 months pregnant. Despite the family's threats against her beloved, she continued to meet with him and was expecting a child. Until the very last moment, Olga was against the plan. She even tried to disrupt the trip; from March 5 to 6 she did not come home to spend the night. The brothers then caused a scandal for her, locked her in the house, and did not take their eyes off her all day. Olga was given a sentence less than the minimum - 6 years (according to the law - from 8 years to capital punishment). Olya was a second mother to all her brothers and sisters. Even from the conclusion she wrote: “Lyuda, send warm clothes to Igor. Tell him, let him take care of his hygiene. How is he feeling, tell me everything. It’s hard for me, I miss him very much. I’m still waiting, waiting for something good, but there’s nothing.” (10/19/1988) Olya gave birth to a girl in the colony. The girl spent the first six months of her life on a bunk. There was no children's home at this institution. The colony administration decided to transfer Olga to Tashkent and place the child in an orphanage. “Lord, how much effort and nerves we spent to take Larochka to us,” recalls Lyudmila. “They didn’t want to give it to us for a long time.” But we still managed to pick up the little one. So she lived with us for 4 years, until Olga left prison. But this was a completely different person. Rude, impudent, evil. She took her daughter to Irkutsk. I contacted some Fazil. She placed Larisa in a commercial kindergarten, then in a paid school. The girl studied very poorly. And one day I came to them, I saw Lariska all dirty, hungry, and Olga was drinking vodka at her neighbor’s and said to me: “Why should she study, she’s already beautiful. She’ll get married early.” Olga works at the central Irkutsk market. Sells red fish. She was not at work that day. “You’re looking for her in vain, she doesn’t talk to journalists at all,” the neighbors at the counter squealed in one voice. - So she is a good woman, talkative, but she behaves cautiously with strangers. What she experienced will never be forgotten, and you are adding fuel to the fire. By the way, she didn’t like the film at all. The two iron doors to Olga’s apartment were never opened for us. Only the neighbor stopped: - Olga hardly communicates with anyone. And we only go to her after a phone call. Igor, why didn't you shoot yourself? - Ovechkin?! How could you not know! Half an hour ago a drunk came in, they say in one of the restaurants in Irkutsk. - Yes, you go around the central taverns, you will definitely find it. Or visit him at work, at the Old Cafe. Midnight. The place where Igor works is hidden in one of the dark alleys of Irkutsk. “If you agree to marry me, I’ll give an interview,” and without this phrase it was clear that the man standing in front of me was drunk. - You know, I still have work to do. The administrator does not allow drinking. Maybe give me a tweet? I’ll grab a beer on the street, it’ll be easier to start a conversation. Just be careful, otherwise they will notice... you will be fired from your job. - I drink heavily because I have a lot of problems. Both everyday and psychological. I understand that there is no escape from them. I don't know why I'm talking to you... Journalists are enemy number one for me. I even had to fight with some of them. In this life I want a little peace. So that they don’t point fingers at me, which often happens. People specially come to the Old Cafe to look at me. This is very disgusting. At first, Igor was in the Angarsk juvenile colony. When he turned 18, he was transferred to an adult, to Bozoi. In total, he spent 4.5 years in prison. In the colony he was the leader of a brass band and a vocal-instrumental ensemble, which he himself created. When he was released, he began working part-time in restaurants playing the piano. Gradually I recruited guys and created a group. He married a singer from the group. Lived in St. Petersburg for a year. But the family could not be saved. He started drinking heavily. The girl left, leaving her husband without money, without an apartment, without a soloist. Now he plays the synthesizer in a new restaurant, where he earns 64 rubles a night, and writes scores for Irkutsk orchestras for free, although this work costs at least 500 rubles. “I don’t want to come up with a name for my group, and in the colony the ensemble was nameless,” says Igor. - For me always best name And best group, of course, "Seven Simeons". I remember this story every day... The fear remains. Fear of explosion, fear of prison, fear of death, fear of... mother. There wasn't a single night when I didn't dream about it... Before the trial, my hair was completely black, but now - see? Then he turned gray in just a month. At the trial, Igor was constantly asked: “All of yours took their own lives, but what about you? Why didn’t you shoot yourself?” The teenager was silent. Igor is still looking for an answer to this question. “If I were older, I would shoot myself,” says my sister. “There’s a mistake in the film,” says Igor, “however, it’s the same as in all the newspapers... What does mom have to do with it?” No one understood that my mother, no matter how bad they said about her, could not do such a thing. By the way, she was already 52 years old then. She found out about everything on the plane, but it was too late. The instigator was Oleg... And how it all began! The head of the family became a mother-heroine out of principle. And it all began on the outskirts of a working-class suburb of Irkutsk. “There is no street called Children’s anywhere else,” local residents say. - And they called it that because kids came running here from all over the area. But the Ovechkins were not heard here... It was a family where the younger ones unquestioningly obeyed the elders, and all together - the mother. She kept the children with her, separating them from the outside world with a palisade of bourgeois and philistine habits. According to her instructions, all the boys entered the music school, and the daughters, like their mother, went into the trade sector. Teachers high school No. 66, where in different times The Ovechkins studied, they say that they did not participate in clean-up days and other events. “But work was always in full swing on their plot, the children were always fussing about in the ground, running like mad for water, repairing the house, caring for the cattle,” says the granny from the neighboring house. - None of the Ovechkins smoked or drank. The whole day was spent at work. And at night, until two o'clock, they beat the drums. I couldn’t sleep under this thunder... The Ovechkin house is the last one on this street. The gate is firmly fused with the ground. All that was left of the once neat home were rotten boards, somehow holding each other together, a leaky roof and a sign with the number 24. Local kids burn fires in the walls of the house in the evenings; the older ones set up a drug den here. And 11 years ago there were only flowers on the 8 acres here. “Why are they needed?” the hostess thought. “You can’t spread them on bread.” “I’ll tell you everything in my heart,” Uncle Vanya, an old-timer on Children’s Street, smelled slightly of fumes. - Ninka was a creature and a whore. She ruined all the children and drove her husband to the grave. What a foreign name she invented for herself! We called her Ninka anyway. I remember I sold vodka underground, in it more water, than alcohol was. Ninel Sergeevna's parents are villagers. The father died at the front when the girl was 5 years old. A year later, the mother dies absurdly. I was coming back from field work and decided to dig up five potatoes. The drunk watchman, not understanding what was happening, shot at point-blank range. The girl was sent to an orphanage. At the age of 15, she was taken in by her cousin, whose wife became her godmother. At the age of 20, Ninel Sergeevna married the “notable driver” Dmitry Vasilyevich Ovechkin, the young couple received a house from the executive committee. And a year later the first child was born - Lyudmila. The second daughter was born dead. Then Ninel Sergeevna swore: “I will never kill a single child in myself in my life. I will give birth to all of them.” Over the course of 25 years, her house was filled with 10 more children. - She greatly terrorized her husband, Mitka. As soon as the man drank 50 grams, he started screaming throughout the entire neighborhood. Although he was not a drunk, he sometimes drank heavily,” says Uncle Vanya. If a Siberian man says that Ovechkin “drank heavily,” there is no doubt that he was not dry. To this day, the neighbors remember how Dmitry Vasilyevich fired a gun through the window of the house, while the children were all lying on the floor. In 1982, Ovechkin's leg was paralyzed. He died in 1984. The eldest of the Ovechkin sons, Vasya, was a deputy troop drummer at school. Ninel Sergeevna loved him more than anyone. She forgave only Vasya all his whims and pranks. Only he was allowed to postpone work until the next day. I only hoped for him on the plane. Only he trusted the right to shoot himself. Olga's colleagues didn't even know that she was from large family. The older brother's fiancee only caught a glimpse of his mother once. I learned about what happened from the newspapers. We never visited, we didn’t let neighbors into the house, we didn’t make friends. However, they were of no particular interest to anyone. The eldest, Lyudmila, got married early and left Irkutsk. Olga worked as a cook at the Angara restaurant and traded at the market. Igor, Oleg, Dima studied at music school and helped with housework. Vasily served in the army. And the youngest went to school. Ninel Sergeevna herself for a long time worked in a wine and vodka store, and later in the market. She sold milk, meat and herbs. In 1985, during Prohibition, she sold vodka through the window around the clock. No one remembers Ninel Sergeevna raising her voice at any of the children. But on the plane, when one of the sons began to beg: “Please don’t blow up the plane,” the mother covered his mouth and shouted: “Be quiet, you bastard! We must fly to any capitalist country, but not to a socialist one!” We didn’t notice that they approached us: “What are you looking at?” - the young man spat. - Go away from this place, we have already bought this plot from the executive committee. This, in fact, is where the story of house No. 24 on Detskaya Street ends. But really, for so many years, none of the Ovechkins visited their father’s house? - Why? Olga came recently and looked at the half-rotten shack,” the neighbor sighs. “I then asked her: “Olenka, when are you going to build? The boys will burn down the hut, and we, God forbid, will catch fire.” And she threw in my direction: “Let it all burn with a blue flame!” Who was waiting for them outside the cordon? Information about the “Seven Simeons” first appeared in 1984. Vasya read a fairy tale about seven boys in “Native Speech”. Later, a film of the same name was shot at the East Siberian studio, which won a prize at the international film festival. Vasily, Dmitry and Oleg began their musical careers at the School of Arts in the wind instruments department. In 1983, Vasya came to the department’s teacher, Vladimir Romanenko, with the idea of creating family jazz. This is how Dixieland "Seven Simeons" came into being. In April 1984, they made their debut on the stage of Gnesinka. That same year, the city gave the family two 3-room apartments. The younger ones grew up on government support. The group was gaining momentum. 1985 - festival in Riga "Jazz-85", then - World Festival of Youth and Students, participation in the "Wider Circle" program. It was then that the mother realized how profitable product is music. They began to give currency concerts for foreigners at the World Trade Center. In the fall of 1987 we went on tour to Japan. There was still not enough money. A solution was found. To leave their homeland, to go to a place where they pay “thousands” for striking the strings, where until recently they were well received, which means they will now be received with joy. “Romanenko himself often told us: “Guys, in Russia they don’t understand jazz, no one needs you here, you need to leave here, you will only be appreciated abroad,” Igor recalls. “It kept getting into our brains, and we began to believe and dream about other countries. When the money ran out, when they stopped inviting us to concerts, when they began to forget us, we were finally convinced of this... Irkutsk Regional School musical arts is located in the very center of the city. Everyone here knows Romanenko. He changed a lot after the trial. Then the teacher had a thick dark beard and luxuriant hair. Now he looks even younger. Clean-shaven face, neatly trimmed. “I won’t talk to you,” he immediately interrupted us. - And so they dragged so much through the courts, they wrote so much, and it’s all untrue. We have always been friends with this family, even now. The guys write me letters, come and talk. Everything has improved, but you are reopening old wounds again! At the trial, Romanenko refuted all of Igor’s testimony that he had repeatedly advised them to leave. He hasn’t communicated with the Ovechkins for about 10 years. “To be honest, none of them were very good musicians,” the head teacher of the school, Boris Kryukov, talked to us. - Some were lazy, others were not given it. For example, we took Seryozhka three times, and all to no avail. The guy didn’t want to, and couldn’t, study. Of course, he was greatly spoiled by the boarding school and bad company. There were two talents in this family - Igor and Mishka. One has perfect pitch, the other is very diligent. But Igor, due to drunkenness, was unable to continue his studies, and Misha is a great guy. He went to St. Petersburg and created his own group. He generally tries to communicate less with his family. Mikhail's fate turned out, perhaps, better than anyone else's. He married the daughter of a famous Irkutsk poet. He went to St. Petersburg and created his own group. I have already gone on tour to Italy. True, the performances ended again in the spirit of the Ovechkins. - They got drunk there, or something, and did such things that they were in urgently deported from the country,” Luda laughs. 24-year-old Mikhail may be drafted into the army. “I’ll never go there,” he says, “I’ll do anything, I’ll pay any money, but after that day I can’t even see a weapon, let alone hold it in my hands.” Ulyana turned 22, and today she works at the Irkutsk reception center. Recently, two 17-year-old girls escaped from her care. It’s not easy to live in Irkutsk with the surname “Ovechkin”. Many relatives replaced her. - I often think, what if they did emigrate? Who would need them there? - Kryukov reflects. - No, no one. Just in Soviet era It was necessary to show once what kind of families we have, what an exemplary country we have, so they went on tour for a year, the state paid them bonuses, gave them money. But it all ended quickly. No one even needed them in Moscow, what can we say about England?! During the last campaign, terrorists were gathered by the whole world. A turner of the regional consumer union, Yakovlev, made threads and plugs for explosive devices in exchange for a bottle of vodka. Former master industrial training, Trushkov charged 30 rubles for turning metal glasses. Prusha obtained and illegally sold them weapons, from which he made 150 rubles. The mechanic of the Melnikovsky poultry farm and at the same time the sound engineer of the ensemble bought gunpowder for them and loaded the guns, supposedly for hunting. At the same time, he knew very well that no one in the Ovechkin family hunted. The double bass, stuffed with weapons and an improvised explosive device, hit the plane solely due to the negligence of the inspection service. The plane could have been released without the slightest damage to the pride of the USSR, but it was landed near Vyborg, where the capture group was already waiting. The assault was carried out ineffectively. Flight attendant Tamara Zharkaya was killed, three passengers were shot in the shootout, and Igor and Sergei were wounded. When the Ovechkins set the plane on fire, there was only one fire truck on the airfield. She failed, and the signal to the paramilitary fire department of Vyborg came when the plane was already on fire. The remaining cars arrived at the charred remains. Excerpts from the testimony of Mikhail Ovechkin: “The brothers realized that they were surrounded and decided to shoot themselves. Dima shot himself under the chin first. Then Vasily and Oleg approached Sasha, stood around the explosive device, and Sasha set it on fire. When the explosion was heard, none of the guys was not injured, only Sasha’s trousers caught fire, as well as the upholstery of the chair, and the window glass was broken. Then Sasha took the sawn-off shotgun from Oleg and shot himself... When Oleg fell, his mother asked Vasya to shoot her... He shot. mom in the temple. When mom fell, he told us to run away and shot himself.” This tragedy is, first of all, ridiculous. In 1988, the Ovechkins did not have the slightest opportunity to escape abroad. And they walked over the corpses. Toward what they thought was a bright future. Now it’s impossible to believe, but the Ovechkins’ fear of the OVIR, which would refuse them, the fear of the consequences of refusal, was stronger than the fear of retribution for the armed hijacking of the plane, for the death of the hostages. “The authors of “Mama” did not understand anything about what happened,” the Ovechkins say unanimously, “there was no point in taking the history of our family as the basis for the script.” Some video traders define the film "Mom" as an action film, others call it a melodrama. “Buy “Mama,” advised a woman selling cassettes in a subway passage, “a wonderful family movie”... “The Iron Curtain” was opened two years after the bloody hijacking of the plane.

On March 8, 1988, a bloody drama unfolded at the Veshchevo military airfield, located not far from the Soviet-Finnish border. A family of musicians named Ovechkins who seized the plane demanded to fly abroad. What made the family, which enjoyed the favor and support of party officials, decide to take such a crazy step? Life recalled the story that shocked the Soviet Union exactly 30 years ago.

The Ovechkins, by the standards of the USSR at that time, were very unusual family- 11 children in a social unit was a huge rarity even then. Ninel Ovechkina, the head of the family, quite officially bore the title of mother-heroine and had corresponding benefits.

The Ovechkins had 7 boys and four girls. Moreover, the difference between the older and younger children was 17 years. The last child Ninel gave birth when she was already over forty. The father of the family had a bad character and a penchant for drinking alcohol. In this state, he sometimes threatened others with a gun. Later, when the older sons grew up, they were beaten in self-defense. He died in 1984.

Ninel Ovechkin cannot be called the darling of fate. Her father died at the front, her mother was shot by a watchman when she tried to dig up some potatoes in a collective farm field during the hungry times of the war. At the age of 6, Ninel was orphaned and raised in an orphanage. Shortly before she came of age, she was taken in by her cousin, who was older than her. And soon she got married.

Later, Ninel worked as a saleswoman in wine and vodka stores, and sometimes traded at the market. She also oriented all her daughters towards trade, while her sons early age occupied with music.

In fact, Ninel was the head of the family even when her husband was alive, who often drank. The main concerns about the children's arrangement lay on her shoulders. All the Ovechkin neighbors later noted that she was a very demanding woman, but not at all cruel. She never raised her voice at children, but at the same time her orders were carried out unquestioningly.

The Ovechkins kept to themselves, did not invite anyone to visit, and did not go to anyone themselves. But none of the children sat idle, free time they either worked on their plots or practiced playing musical instruments. By the standards of the provincial city outskirts of the 80s, they were, in general, a prosperous family. Bad company and alcohol awaited teenagers from such families at every turn. But at the Ovechkins’ house, no one hung out with bad people, ended up in police custody, or drank.

"Seven Simeons"

Three older brothers studied at a music school since childhood. However, the idea of creating a family musical ensemble arose after the school had enrolled the most younger sons Ovechkina. It is believed that the eldest of the brothers, Vasily, was the first to propose creating an ensemble, sharing the idea with the teacher. The name was taken from one of the children's fairy tales, which one of the younger Ovechkins recently read. At the time of the creation of the group, the eldest of the brothers was 21 years old, and the two youngest were 8 and 4 years old. At the same time, according to reviews from teachers, Mikhail, one of younger brothers, was truly a real talent and showed great promise.

The peculiarity of the ensemble was that each of the brothers played his own instrument. 21-year-old Vasily on drums, 19-year-old Dmitry on trumpet, 16-year-old Oleg on saxophone, 14-year-old Alexander on double bass, 12-year-old Igor on piano (according to the teachers’ descriptions, he was the only one of the brothers who had an absolute ear for music and was considered the main talent of the group together with Mikhail), 8-year-old Mikhail on trombone and 4-year-old Sergei on banjo.

Such family ensembles were once very popular in Western countries, but in the USSR they were still a curiosity. Of course, the youngest members of the group were the main stars of the group. Perhaps, from a musical point of view, “Seven Simeons” did not stand out from many other ensembles, but their unusual composition attracted attention and set them apart from other VIA and jazz bands.

As was often the case in the Soviet Union, the regional leadership provided them with protection. In those days, many secretaries of regional or district committees patronized local talents in order to show off to Moscow, and at the same time glorify the region throughout the country. And seven brother musicians were perfect for this.

It is unlikely that without this support “Simeons” would have been able to develop within the Soviet Union. They were helped with venues and organized performances at large and popular festivals. Young musicians were even invited to the filming of the popular TV show “Wider Circle.” They performed at the XII International Festival of Youth and Students in Moscow in 1985. The Seven Simeons gained some fame and now performed for foreign delegations at the famous Sovintsentr, also known as the Hammer Center. The two older brothers were helped with admission to the prestigious Gnesinka.

Journalists were frequent guests of the Ovechkins, interviewing them and filming about them. unusual family movies. The Irkutsk leadership, in gratitude for the glorification of the region, provided the family with two adjacent three-room apartments - in addition to the house they had.

In general, by Soviet standards, the Ovechkins lived quite well. Of course, they weren’t millionaires, and they couldn’t be called rich people, but they weren’t beggars either. In 1987 they even organized foreign tours in Japan. It was very difficult for musicians (if they were not world-famous classical musicians) to go on tour to a capitalist country at that time. And it’s absolutely impossible without active help government bodies. But just then perestroika began and the USSR began to lift the curtain. "Simeonov" was sent to Japan as a Soviet curiosity.

In Japan they experienced a real culture shock. The assortment of stores in capitalist countries always amazed Soviet citizens, but here additional factors were the youth and inexperience of the musicians. In addition, the brothers managed to notice that labor in capitalist countries is paid at completely different prices. Having heard about the exorbitant fees of famous jazzmen, they began to dream of tens of thousands of dollars per performance. In a word, the young Ovechkins began to experience real psychosis, caused by the desire to remain in a capitalist country at all costs.

In principle, the brothers could have stayed in Japan without any problems. Those who wanted to escape during foreign tours always found a way to do it. Besides, it was 1987, they weren’t monitoring the touring performers so strictly, and the “Simeons” weren’t top-ranking stars in the USSR. Of course, their escape would be unpleasant, but nothing more.

However, the brothers did not take advantage of the opportunity, not wanting to leave their family. After all, all the sisters remained in the USSR, and in the Ovechkin family, family ties were always placed above all else. At the family council, it was decided: if we flee to capitalist country, then we should all run together.

Capture

In any case, the option of escaping during foreign tours was out of the question, since in full force the family did not visit them. The sisters were not included in the ensemble and could not travel with him. It was also impossible to simply emigrate; such an option simply did not exist in the USSR (only citizens of Jewish nationality could repatriate, but this was not always easy). The family didn’t even think about contacting the OVIR.

There was only one option left - to break through in battle. That is, to hijack a plane, take passengers hostage and demand to fly to a capital country. Although there is a popular belief that Ninel Ovechkina was the mastermind and organizer of the escape, all the surviving children later assured that this was not so. The main initiator of the escape was the third oldest brother, Oleg. He was supported by his other older brothers, and then his mother. Of course, if she had not approved the idea, then there would have been no hijacking; the brothers would not have decided to act contrary to her word.

It is worth noting that the Ovechkins had a somewhat misguided understanding of aircraft hijacking, like most other Soviet air pirates. In fact, even if the hijackers were lucky not to die during the assault or fall into the hands of law enforcement officers (which happened most often) and still reached the coveted foreign country, they were not greeted there with bread and salt. All countries in the world considered air piracy serious crime, and the hijackers faced prison sentences, regardless of their political beliefs and aspirations. So, even if the Ovechkins' plan had succeeded, they would have been in serious trouble. Adult family members would most likely end up behind bars, and the youngest would be given to guardians.

However, the Ovechkins’ escape would not have been successful in any case, since they chose the wrong plane for this (more on that later). Nevertheless, they prepared for the crime seriously. They sold most of their belongings, bought smart suits, and got several guns through friends - under the pretext of wanting to hunt. The group's sound engineer helped them with ammunition and gunpowder. The brothers also made several weak explosive devices. Nevertheless, these were real bombs, not dummies, - the Ovechkins were extremely serious.

It was decided to hide the weapon in a double bass case. During the tour, they noticed that the case did not fit into the frames of introscopes at airports and was allowed to be carried in practically without inspection. Moreover, we are talking about children. The case had a second bottom, into which the brothers placed sawed-off shotguns and homemade bombs.

At the family council, it was decided that all 11 family members would flee abroad. Twelfth - eldest daughter Lyudmila was already married by that time and had long lived her life separately from her family.

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Finally, the plane was refueled, but still did not move. The Ovechkins began to get nervous again and put forward an ultimatum: if the plane doesn’t take off in five minutes, the passengers will be in trouble. The ship's commander convinced them that a tractor was about to arrive to tow them to the runway. Five minutes pass, ten, fifteen, the tractor does not appear, but the Ovechkins have not yet carried out their threat.

Meanwhile, under the cover of refueling the plane, two armed policemen sneaked into the cockpit unnoticed. Finally, a tractor pulls up and the plane takes off. At the same moment the police burst into the salon.

Apparently, they thought that the Ovechkins, due to their youth, would not dare to use weapons and could easily be neutralized. But they miscalculated. Crazy shooting began. The police, having received an unexpected rebuff, began firing blindly at the tail of the plane. At the same time, they did not know who they were shooting at, and their bullets flew not at the Ovechkins, but at the passengers, four of whom received gunshot wounds. It was only by incredible luck that none of them died.

While the firefight was going on, help arrived to the police and tried to break through the hatch in the rear section. The Ovechkins fired back, wounding two policemen (the wounds turned out to be not life-threatening), but they were running out of ammunition, which was available only in small quantities. Realizing that their escape plan had failed, they decided to commit suicide. One of the sisters was sent to get off the plane with the minor participants in the terrorist attack, since they were not subject to jurisdiction anyway.

The older brothers, with the exception of 17-year-old Igor (who did not want to die and hid, taking advantage of the turmoil), gathered in the rear section to detonate themselves. However, the homemade bombs turned out to be too weak and only caused a fire in the interior. Then the older brothers Vasily (26 years old), Dmitry (24 years old), Oleg (21 years old) and Alexander (19 years old) shot themselves. However, some sources report that the latter died as a result of the explosion. Previously, one of the brothers also shot his mother on her orders.

Due to the smoke, passengers rushed out of the plane, saving their lives. But as soon as they jumped out of the trap, the police grabbed them on the ground and began to brutally beat them. Later they justified themselves by the fact that there might be fugitive terrorists among the passengers, so it was decided to harshly arrest everyone.

As a result of the unsuccessful assault, three passengers died from suffocation from smoke. Another victim, flight attendant Tamara Zharkaya, was killed by the Ovechkins. The other five dead were four older brothers and Ninel Ovechkin, who committed suicide. As a result of the shooting, jumping from heights and brutal detention on the ground, 15 passengers were wounded and injured. Also, while trying to get out of the plane, 9-year-old Sergei Ovechkin was wounded in the leg. There were two wounded on the police side.

Such catastrophic losses as a result of the assault are explained by the fact that the capture group consisted of ordinary police officers who were completely unprepared for such operations. It was pure improvisation. In the USSR there was an Alpha group, trained specifically for such situations. And, when in 1983 a group of Georgian golden youth tried to hijack a plane abroad, as a result of Alpha’s competent actions, not a single passenger was injured during the assault. However, she was in Moscow, and while she was flying to Veshchevo, the assault had already begun by the police. When the fighters of the elite unit arrived at the scene, the plane was already burning out.

The fact that the assault was carried out very unsuccessfully was recognized even at that time. However, the fault for this is not the police, who in such situations could hardly jump over their heads, but those who gave the order to use them. Of course, Alpha would most likely have dealt with the ship's hijackers much more professionally and with fewer casualties. The failed assault at that time caused an even greater resonance than the Ovechkins’ crime itself.

Further fate

Of the six surviving Ovechkins, only two have reached the age of criminal responsibility. 17-year-old Igor and 28-year-old Olga, who was expecting a child at that time. They were found guilty and sentenced to 8 and 6 years in prison respectively.

The fate of almost all surviving family members was very tragic. Igor continued to study music in the colony and created a prison orchestra. After just over four years of imprisonment, he was released early. After that, he worked as a musician in various restaurants, drank a lot, and later became addicted to drugs. After the release of the film “Mom” in 1999, based on their story, he threatened to sue, but soon he himself ended up behind bars and died in a pre-trial detention center under unclear circumstances.

Olga was released from prison after four years. She worked as a saleswoman at the market and also had problems with alcohol. At the beginning of the 2000s, she became involved with a certain tire shop worker named Vitaly Mikhalenya, who killed her in a drunken stupor. This happened in 2004. The killer was sentenced to 9 years in prison.

The youngest of the Ovechkins, Sergei, who was 9 years old at the time of the plane hijacking, tried three times to enter a music school in his hometown, but was never able to. According to him, he was refused because of his last name, but teachers later assured journalists that the whole point was a lack of talent. For some time he worked as a musician in restaurants, but at the very end of the 90s he “disappeared from the radar” and never made himself known again.

Ulyana, who was 10 years old at the time of the capture, was also not settled in life. She had problems with alcohol and attempted to commit suicide. After one of these attempts, when she threw herself under a car, she became disabled.

Tatyana (14 years old at the time of capture) got married and lived an ordinary life. Occasionally met with journalists.

The only one who managed to fulfill his family dream and go abroad was Mikhail, who was considered the most talented member of the ensemble (by the way, his classmate at the Irkutsk School of Arts was the world famous Denis Matsuev, who also noted Mikhail’s undoubted talent). He moved to St. Petersburg, graduated from the Institute of Culture, and collaborated with many jazz groups. At the beginning of the 2000s, he moved to Spain, where he became a member of the fairly well-known jazz group Jinx Jazz Band, famous for its street performances in Barcelona. Several years ago he suffered a stroke, after which he was unable to play and lives in a local nursing home.

The eldest sister, Lyudmila, who did not participate in the capture and did not even know about it, took upon herself the upbringing of the remaining younger brothers and sisters, as well as Olga’s child. Currently retired.

Just three years after the bloody events, the Iron Curtain collapsed and leaving the country became free. However, it is unlikely that the Ovechkins would have managed to become stars and receive huge fees for performances in Western countries. If in the USSR they were given state support as a provincial curiosity (and at the same time they were not pop stars anyway), then in Western countries such family ensembles would not surprise anyone. Rare club concerts and little interest in the fugitives in the first few months was the most that could be counted on. And this is assuming that they managed to escape without committing crimes. But, since the Ovechkins hijacked a plane to break through to the West, upon arrival at their desired destination, the older members of the family would almost certainly be waiting in prison instead of concert halls.