The Pilot Who Stole a Secret Soviet Fighter Jet

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On September 6, 1978, Soviet pilot Viktor Belenko flew a MiG-25 from a military airfield in Russia’s Far East. The fighter jet disappeared from radar; it landed at Hakodate airport in Japan after a while, and then Belenko asked for political asylum in the United States. Escapes from the USSR were not uncommon, but Belenko's case stands out. After all, he not only escaped but put at the disposal of the West a new secret Soviet aircraft.

In the new episode of “How It Was,” we will tell you about one of the loudest escapes from the USSR. What prompted the exemplary officer Viktor Belenko to leave the Soviet Union forever? How did he manage to cross the Soviet-Japanese border bypassing the radars? What did American President Gerald Ford answer to the USSR Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko after the country had requested that the U.S. extradite the pilot? You will also find out how Belenko's life subsequently developed in the United States.

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Featuring footage from the documentaries:
«At the XXV CPSU Congress» / СSDF, 1976,
«Communism and Co-Existence», 1963 / Reagan Library,
«USSR Armed Forces aviation», newsreel, 1978 / Ministry of Defence of the USSR

Videos used:
President Reagan's Meetings with Andrei Gromyko of the Soviet Union on September 28, 1984 / Reagan Library
STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND SEMIANNUAL FILM REPORT / U.S. AEROSPACE AUDIO - VISUAL SERVISE / PublicResourceOrg

Photographs used: AP Photo / Boris Yurchenko, Allan warren / CC BY-SA 3.0, Eric Koch / Anefo, Verhoeff, Bert / Anefo, Lvova Anastasiya / CC BY-SA 3.0