5 ms·
Very true. A similar incident, also from Finland, was the downing of the passenger plane Kaleva. It was shot down by Soviet warplanes during peacetime. The vag
by keketi 7y ago
Very true. A similar incident, also from Finland, was the downing of the passenger plane Kaleva. It was shot down by Soviet warplanes during peacetime.
The vague publicly stated reason for the crash was that there was an explosion of foreign origin. The Finnish government knew that the plane was shot down by the Soviets, but chose to withhold this information for foreign policy reasons.
The airline's CEO confided the truth to the pilots' widows, who were sworn to secrecy. The true story was kept secret for almost 50 years until a Finnish aviation historian happened to find a copy of a Soviet air force officer's memoirs which describe the incident.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaleva_(airplane) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaleva_(airplane)
https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2018/04/24/matkustajakone-kalevan-tuhosta-1940-vaiettiin-vuosikymmeniksi https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2018/04/24/matkustajakone-kale... (in Finnish)
- steve19 7y agoSo that begets the question, why do the Fins allow the Russian to use their planes as target practice by keeping silent?
- Svip 7y agoMaybe there is some truth to the West German term 'Finlandisation'? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finlandization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finlandization
- apecat 7y agoFinn here. Finlandization is absolutely a thing, it's even mentioned OP's Fine Article on Finnair Flight 915 ;) National-level Finnish politicians still weigh their statements on matters such as the imperialist endeavors of our beloved eastern neighbor. Other institutions are gradually becoming less self-censored. Someone better informed, or just older than my 30-or-so years can probably be more precise and offer more and better examples. But I have the sense that internationally renowned journalist Jessikka Aro's reporting on Russian disinfo ops wouldn't have been encouraged, yet translated to English and Russian by Finnish state-owned broadcaster Yle before, say, 2005 https://kioski.yle.fi/omat/jessikka-aros-prize-winning-stories-on-russian-propaganda https://kioski.yle.fi/omat/jessikka-aros-prize-winning-stori...
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- greedo 7y agoWhen you're a small country living next to a very powerful one, you learn to mind your manners.
- goatinaboat 7y agoOr join NATO, which the Baltic states did at the first opportunity. Finland has always refused, although apparently they did think about it in 2007. Ukraine also had the opportunity, didn’t take it, and it didn’t work out so well for them.
- hollerith 7y agoWhen in your opinion did Ukraine have the opportunity to join NATO? Can you reference a short passage somewhere that says as much?
- goatinaboat 7y agoThe MAP in 2008? It’s pretty common knowledge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine–NATO_relations https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine–NATO_relations
- deleted 7y ago[deleted]
- hollerith 7y agoIt is common knowledge that Ukraine applied to join NATO. I'm interested in your implication that they were ever offered membership. I doubt they ever were because I think the United States (and probably other members) considered an offer too likely to risk a war with Russia.
- goatinaboat 7y agoRight, Ukraine applied and NATO responded with a Membership Action Plan, it clearly would not have done that if it didn’t want Ukraine as a member. Really Ukraine should have made NATO membership a condition of giving up its nukes when the USSR collapsed.
- kingofpandora 7y agoDo you actually believe that the Soviets used Finnish airplanes as target practice?