It was the autumn of 1983. In Tbilisi, the celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of the Treaty of Georgievsk had just drawn to a close. Communist Party delegations had reported on eternal friendship and departed, while alarming, fragmented rumors spread by word of mouth along the boulevards and through university courtyards. Nobody really knew anything for sure, yet whispers circulated that a group of young people had hijacked a passenger plane to flee the USSR. This is the story of the most audacious escape attempt from the Soviet Union—one that still stirs intense debate to this day.
“The Jeans Generation”: The Tbilisi Plane Hijacking That Shook the USSR
