Vladimir Putin Gave the Order for a Passenger Plane to Be Shot Down in 2014
A passenger plane reported to be carrying a bomb to target the opening of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics was ordered to be shot down by Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said in a new film Sunday. In the two-hour documentary titled Putin, the President said that before the opening ceremony was due to start, he received a phone call from Olympic security officials saying a plane carrying 110 people had been hijacked, Reuters reports. The report was a false alarm and the plane was not shot down, Putin said. "I was told a plane en route from Ukraine to Istanbul was seized, captors demand landing in Sochi," Putin said in the film. The Turkish Pegasus Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane was flying from Kharkiv in Ukraine to Istanbul in Turkey. Pilots on board reportedly said a passenger had a bomb and the plane needed to reroute to Sochi, where more than 40,000 people had gathered at the stadium for the opening ceremony. Putin originally ordered the plane to be shot down in accordance with emergency protocol recommended by security officials. "I told them act according to the plan," Putin said. Several minutes later, the President was informed that the call was a false alarm. The passenger was drunk and the plane would continue to Turkey. The film aired online a week before Putin reruns for the presidency in elections on March 18.