Fatal neglect and blank shots
On August 19, 1990, a rice wagon carrying 15 prisoners and three guards arrived at the Neryungri airport in Yakutia, with plans to transport the inmates to Yakutsk. At the moment a civilian plane was preparing for departure, the arrangement revealed a critical flaw: the convoy was delayed for too long.
The criminals were hurried onto the aircraft, and a cascade of oversights followed. The flight had already been delayed, yet security checks were skipped. Once aboard, another rule slipped away: the prisoners were bound with only three pairs of handcuffs, each officer responsible for a separate binding, according to the existing procedures.
At 12:25 a.m. local time, the Tupolev with 85 passengers and seven crew members lifted off from Neryungri. Five minutes later, the pilot received an alert, and soon a note from a flight attendant confirmed: the plane had been hijacked, and the hijackers would blow up the liner if their demands were not met.
Inside the cabin, Andrei Isakov, a ringleader, racketeer, and former boxer, produced a cut-down shotgun and leveled it at a woman with a child. Three guards confronted him with firearms drawn, insisting that weapons be laid down and threatening harm to passengers. Simultaneously, the hijacker leader Vladimir Evdokimov, convicted three times, produced a bag from which wires protruded and again pressed for compliance with his terms.
Later, it emerged that the so-called “bomb” consisted of a lump of laundry soap and a pair of wires carried in a bag full of clothes. Evdokimov also dragged a loaded shotgun, obtained for money, which he had concealed in a prosthetic leg after a prior amputation. He had killed a person some years earlier in what was ruled self-defense, not murder.
As guards worked to persuade the hijackers to surrender, flight engineer Alexei Kamoshin appeared in the cabin on a reconnaissance mission, pistol drawn. After assessing the danger, he ordered the guards to lay down their weapons. Two sergeants, Valery Varlyga and Igor Smurygin, obeyed immediately, while sergeant Sergei Borshch hesitated. His weapon trembled with fear as it fired into the air due to a nervous trigger pull. The passengers observed that the guards’ firearms were loaded with blanks, a fact that gave the bandits a tactical edge.
The guards were restrained, and Isakov pressed the shotgun against the flight engineer’s temple, dragging him toward the cockpit. The aircraft commander, Anatoly Listopadov, peered through the cabin peephole and saw Kamoshin in the grip of the hijackers. The criminal threatened to shoot the crew and passengers if access to the cockpit was blocked. Listopadov granted permission for entry, and the plane came under the bandits’ control from that moment.
There are no “police” and “KGB men” or we will shoot everyone”
Evdokimov demanded the plane return to Neryungri. The liner circled due to full fuel tanks, giving authorities time to prepare. Following the alarm, a capture unit was deployed, and the famed Alpha group of the KGB, trained to assault hijacked aircraft, arrived from Yakutsk by air. They positioned themselves along the runway as the crisis unfolded.
Local security forces also arrived, loading the team into an aging UAZ near the highway. They stopped traffic, disembarked passengers, and anticipated possible reinforcements from groups assembled at the scene.
At 14:06 the plane landed back in Neryungri. A local official was asked to negotiate, with a strict caveat: no police and no KGB presence, or lives would be at stake. The squadron commander Vladimir Gonchuk stepped onto the runway and warned the criminals that all service hatches were sealed, leaving no way for anyone else to enter. The hijackers made a string of demands, including weapons, body armor, ammunition, radios, and parachutes. They also insisted that two other inmates from the local pre-trial detention center, Moloshnikov and Petrov, be brought aboard to join Evdokimov’s circle.
Nikolai Pak, a former head of the Neryungri criminal investigation department, arrived by private plane from Yakutsk to broker negotiations. He knew Isakov well and nearly secured a surrender, until another police chief interrupted with ultimatums and threats of harsher consequences. Isakov grew angry and escalated the tension.
Isakov seized subordinate sergeant Borsch, dragged him from the vehicle, and declared that life would be taken to answer defiance toward police and the public. The moment the shutter clicked, Isakov was restrained, and assurances were given that the bandits would receive immediate attention to their demands. A capable compromise began to form.
In response, the invaders were issued two Makarov pistols, two Kalashnikov rifles, ammunition, seven armored vests, and three radios. Moloshnikov and Petrov were also taken aboard. The negotiators explained that the only viable path to safety lay in parachuting from the aircraft; leaping would risk contact with a live engine and a fatal crash, offering no third option for escape.
In a turn of mercy, women and children were released, and six more prisoners departed the plane of their own accord. In total, there were 11 hijackers on board, including Moloshnikov and Petrov. The bandits pressed for further concessions, and Isakov’s parents were brought to the airport to plead for restraint, but the intercession did not deter the plan.
Eventually, the crisis shifted toward negotiations on the tarmac and at the edge of the runway. The authorities sought a peaceful resolution, preserving civilian lives while addressing the criminals’ demands and keeping the risk of escalation in check.
going to pakistan
At 6:15 p.m., Evdokimov ordered the plane to fly toward Khabarovsk. After some time, the hijackers altered plans and demanded Krasnoyarsk, then Tashkent. Once there, the bandits asked the country’s leadership to facilitate an international flight. Combat teams surrounded the aircraft, yet the decision was made to avoid a costly assault due to the potential for heavy casualties.
The hijackers contemplated various destinations, including Israel, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, but India was chosen. As negotiations with Pakistan for an air corridor proceeded, Isakov assumed control and ordered a new takeoff at 9:25, crossing the Pakistani border two hours later. Pakistani fighters stood ready, but the flight radio operator sent a message to avoid engagement, clarifying that the aircraft was a civilian hijacked by terrorists.
The crew proceeded to Karachi, and Pakistani authorities welcomed the hijackers with outward friendliness, a gesture that later appeared misguided. The bandits were told to disarm and were transported in vehicles to authorities’ custody, under gunpoint. The Tu-154 ultimately returned to the USSR, and those who demanded safe passage were subjected to trials under hijacking and air terrorism charges in Pakistan, which had not anticipated such a turn of events.
Mass suicide and returning home
Even after lengthy legal processes, the invaders faced harsh realities. The early life sentences softened to extended imprisonment instead of the death penalty, but remorse grew behind the walls of Pakistani jails. The southern prisons, enduring extreme heat often reaching 60 degrees, offered bleak conditions: scant water, food that distressed the body, and brutal treatment. Shackles remained on legs, and basic amenities like showers were replaced by grim buckets of water for many inmates.
Suslov, unable to endure, took his own life after two months. Others engaged in hunger strikes or filed appeals that seldom drew attention. In 1991, three inmates, including Isakov, attempted self-harm but survived. In 1992, another mass suicide attempt occurred, only to be thwarted again. In September 1998, Pakistan, acknowledging the passage of time, pardoned the criminals and extradited them to Russia. They faced accountability for crimes committed previously, and the two countries that had sparked the crisis, including the Ukrainian authorities, declined to accept them, waiting for the end of their sentences in Pakistan. This conclusion reflected the long-lasting consequences of a hijacking that tested international diplomacy and personal resolve.
Source note: historical records compiled from official archives and retrospective analyses corroborate the sequence of events and decisions made during the incident, including negotiations, interceptions, and eventual extradition. These summaries draw on primary accounts and later historical reviews to present an integrated narrative of a pivotal moment in aviation security.