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Video: How was the life of the members of the Ovechkin terrorist family who survived after the hijacking of the plane from the USSR in 1988
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
In March 1988, the Ovechkin family with many children, which created the Seven Simeon jazz ensemble, decided to look for a better life abroad. They hijacked a plane flying from Irkutsk via Kurgan to Leningrad. As a result, five criminals, three passengers and a flight attendant were killed, and another 15 people were injured. After the terrorist attack, seven Ovechkin remained alive, including Lyudmila, who did not know anything about the impending hijacking of the plane.
Musicians turned terrorists
The jazz ensemble "Seven Simeonov", which appeared in Irkutsk, enjoyed success and was treated kindly by the authorities. Of the 11 children of Ninel Ovechkina, who would later be called the queen of terrorists, only seven boys were included in the musical group, girls were not initially included in its composition.
The life of Ninel Ovechkina herself was not easy. The inmate of the orphanage was left without a husband early, she raised her children. She became the founder and leader of the family team. The Seven Simeons were the pride of the city. The Ovechkin family was given two apartments in a high-rise building, and the members of the ensemble even received a salary. Some of them became students of the Gnesins Institute.
But after the brothers visited Japan on tour, the family suddenly set out to move abroad for permanent residence. The idea was voiced by one of the sons, mother, Ninel Ovechkina, he was warmly supported. Since everyone was convinced that it was impossible to leave legally, the Ovechkins decided to hijack the plane and, with weapons in hand, demand a landing in Great Britain. Preparations for the capture continued for six months. The younger children, of course, did not know anything, just as Lyudmila, who had lived separately with her husband for a long time, was not informed about the plans of her family.
Shortly before departure Ninel Ovechkina said: "Either we all fly away, or we all die!" On March 8, 1988, the whole family, with the exception of Lyudmila, got on a plane, allegedly heading for a festival in Leningrad. Weapons were hidden among the musical instruments.
It is known how this flight ended: three passengers and a flight attendant were killed. Ninel ordered her eldest son Vasily to shoot the older children and herself. Among the adults of the Ovechkins, 28-year-old Olga survived, taking the younger ones out of the plane, and 17-year-old Igor, who prudently hid in the restroom so that he would not be overtaken by his brother's bullet.
Broken life
The investigation in this case lasted several months, and Olga and Igor Ovechkin appeared before the court in September 1988, who became the accused in this case. Olga admitted her guilt, although she insisted that she did not take any part in the preparation of the terrorist attack and was even categorically against the hijacking of the plane. According to Ovechkina, she wanted to stay in the USSR, since her romance with a young man of Caucasian nationality was in full swing. At the same time, her older brothers forbade her to meet with her lover due to the fact that during the military service in the army they suffered from bullying from the Caucasians. Igor did not give an intelligible answer to the judge's question about why he did not commit suicide along with the older Ovechkins.
As a result, Olga was sentenced to six years in prison, Igor - to eight. Olga, while still in prison, gave birth to a daughter, Larisa, who was later raised by her sister Lyudmila. Igor was a choir accompanist in the juvenile colony, and after being transferred to the Bozoi colony for adults, he created a brass band and a vocal and instrumental ensemble there.
The Ovechkins served four and a half years and were released early. But even in freedom, their life did not work out. After her release, Olga returned to Irkutsk, got a job as a fish seller at the market. At first, she took her daughter to her, but soon Larisa again moved to Lyudmila in Cheremkhovo, because her mother led an asocial lifestyle, and in 2004 she was killed by her own roommate. Raised by Lyudmila and Olga's son Vasily, who was born shortly before the death of his mother.
Lyudmila, who by the time of the tragedy already had three of her children, had to raise more younger brothers and sisters, and then a nephew and niece. After the trial, the young woman refused the offer of the authorities to renounce her own mother, just as she did not want to transfer the children to the upbringing of a certain businessman from Amsterdam, who wanted to revive the "Seven Simeons" with the surviving Ovechkin.
After his release, Igor worked as a musician in cafes and restaurants, lived for some time in St. Petersburg, was married. Problems with alcohol led him into bad company and ended up in arrest. He was accused of distributing drugs, but Ovechkin did not live to see the trial, he died in a cell of a pre-trial detention center under unclear circumstances.
Sergei Ovechkin at the time of the hijacking of the plane was 9 years old. During the terrorist attack, he was wounded in the leg, and the doctors did not remove the splinter, hoping that he would eventually come out on his own. When the boy grew up, he mastered the saxophone and at one time worked with Igor in restaurants. He was not admitted to the Irkutsk Music School, justifying the refusal by the lack of potential and belonging to a scandalous family. How his life developed after Igor's death is unknown.
Mikhail was 13 when the tragedy struck. After graduation, he entered the St. Petersburg Institute of Culture, worked in several musical groups, and in 2002 moved to permanent residence in Spain, where he played in a street group. After suffering a stroke in 2012, he became disabled and now resides in a hospice.
Ulyana was 10 years old at the time of the terrorist attack, already at 16 she gave birth to a child, drank a lot, had suicidal tendencies, and later worked in a reception center. Another attempt to commit suicide ended in disability for her. Now she lives in Irkutsk on welfare.
Tatiana was 14 when her family became infamous. She married safely, moved to Cheremkhovo and gave birth to a child. She once appeared on television, taking part in the filming of a documentary series, one of the episodes of which was dedicated to the events of 1988.
All the surviving members of the Ovechkin family prefer not to communicate with strangers and not remember the tragedy that broke their lives.
The hijacking of an airplane in the USSR was an extraordinary event, especially since the Ovechkin family with many children turned out to be the terrorists, who organized a musical group with the fabulous name "Seven Simeons". Who were they really - victims of totalitarianism, dreaming of freedom, or brutal murderers, ready to go to their goal over the corpses?
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