Mooney_Driver wrote:
Not the only time he did…. he got a prison term for attacking a nurse a few years later and several other fines for fraud and other stuff….
I know, but that was totally unrelated to his flight to Moscow.
Airborne_Again wrote:
Rust were in prison for a bit over a year.
Not the only time he did…. he got a prison term for attacking a nurse a few years later and several other fines for fraud and other stuff….
gallois wrote:
There is also the point that the Finnish-Russian border has been quite relaxed almost as far back as Kruschev.
It may have been relaxed on the Finnish side, but certainly not on the Soviet one. For example, if you weren’t a local resident, you needed a special permit from the KGB to get closer than ~30 km to the border. There were a few popular rock climbing locations around the inland edge of that strip, and to avoid being detained, we had to walk some 12 km across the swamp because the road was patrolled by the border guards. That path was affectionately known as “Ho Chi Minh’s trail”. The border strip became somewhat narrower in the late 1980s, but otherwise the restriction lasted all the way until the collapse of the Soviet Union.
We all don’t know the future (i am fairly sure) – it might or it might not remain the auto-/cleptocracy its is now. I am (maybe too) optimistic rhat things will change again.
Why would one not show the vid right now ? It is important to remember that not everything/everybody Russian is bad, just because a cruel regime commits horrible crimes in a neighboring country…
I also visited the Balkans which I certainly did not have on the personal map in the nineties to visit “ever”.
gallois wrote:
Was that freely in 1987 or did he get arrested?
There is also the point that the Finnish-Russian border has been quite relaxed almost as far back as Kruschev.
Certainly not freely. He flew without permission or flight plan or anything. Heads were rolling in the Soviet military afterwards. It was an advantage for Gorbatchev who got a reason to rid himself of hardliners who were opposed to his policies. Rust were in prison for a bit over a year.
gallois wrote:
Was that freely in 1987 or did he get arrested?
Of course Mathias Rust was arrested, hence the smiley face!
Was that freely in 1987 or did he get arrested?
There is also the point that the Finnish-Russian border has been quite relaxed almost as far back as Kruschev.
Malibuflyer wrote:
Yes, I know I‘m dreaming – but who would have thought in 85 that we can freely fly to Dresden, Weimar or Stralsund „in our lifetime“ ?!?
Well, a certain gentleman flew from Helsinki to Moscow in 1987! :)))
Never say never – just imagine that a certain leader in Russia has a car accident tomorrow and the liberal forces will use this discontinuity to end the war and build a true democracy. Borders will open up and we will have a great relationship…
Yes, I know I‘m dreaming – but who would have thought in 85 that we can freely fly to Dresden, Weimar or Stralsund „in our lifetime“ ?!?
Won’t say entire lifetime for all of us, but it will definitely be done for the upcoming decades.
