Russian Pilot Tells Passengers War In Ukraine Is A Crime

March 14, 2022

Russian commercial pilot announces after flight lands that ‘the war in Ukraine is a crime, we must stop it immediately’ – to rapturous applause from passengers

The pilot, who has not yet been named, was flying for Russian airline Pobeda
After landing the flight in Antalya, Turkey, he gave a passionate anti-war speech
The defiant message condemning the invasion of Ukraine quickly went viral
But the pilot likely faces severe repercussions should he return to Russia
More than 2.8 million people have fled Ukraine since Russia invaded in late Feb

This is the moment a Russian airline pilot announces over the loudspeaker that the war in Ukraine is ‘a crime’ to a plane full of passengers on a flight to Turkey.

The pilot, who has not yet been named, was flying for airline Pobeda, a subsidiary of Russian airline Aeroflot which recently suspended all its flights to the EU and the UK after the European bloc placed a blanket ban on Russian-owned aircraft entering its airspace.

After making his landing in Antalya, Turkey, the captain left the cockpit and made his way into the passenger cabin, where he assumed control of the loudspeaker and gave a very clear message.

‘Dear customers, this is your captain speaking. Just speaking on behalf of myself and not as a representative of the airline – I think the war in Ukraine is a crime.

‘We should not continue this war, we must stop it immediately.

‘Don’t support this bloodshed. Thank you for your attention.’

The clip has gone viral on social media, where it has been reposted by several journalists, war correspondents and government officials in Ukraine.

The pilot, who has not yet been named, assumed control of the loudspeaker and gave a very clear message: ‘Dear customers, this is your captain speaking. Just speaking on behalf of myself and not as a representative of the airline – I think the war in Ukraine is a crime’. The clip has gone viral on social media, where it has been reposted by several journalists, war correspondents and government officials in Ukraine

The war in Ukraine has quickly turned into a humanitarian disaster, with the UN announcing early this morning that more than 2.8 million refugees have now fled the country (damage in Kyiv March 14)

The pilot was flying for airline Pobeda, a subsidiary of Russian airline Aeroflot which recently suspended all its flights to the EU and the UK after the European bloc placed a blanket ban on Russian-owned aircraft entering its airspace

The pilot first thanked passengers for flying with Pobeda airlines, and welcomed them to Antalya.

But his anti-war message, given first in Russian and then in English, was well received.

Passengers can be heard clapping in the background as the pilot appealed for an end to the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian diplomat Olexander Scherba was among the government officials to repost the pilot’s message, tweeting: ‘This brave Russian pilot makes a statement.’

But many social media users expressed concern for the pilot, whose outspoken stance on the invasion of Ukraine will likely see him face harsh repercussions should he return to Russia.

The war in Ukraine has quickly turned into a humanitarian disaster, with the UN announcing early this morning that more than 2.8 million refugees have now fled the country.

EU officials have said 5 million people in total may end up fleeing the conflict in the coming weeks and months, while others have put the figure higher as a result of what has become Europe’s fastest growing refugee crisis since World War Two.

Millions of people have also been displaced inside Ukraine, with many citizens having evacuated only as far as the quieter western regions, including to cities like Lviv.

The civilian death toll sits at 549 as of Monday morning according to the UN – though the true figure is thought to be much higher.

The war in Ukraine has quickly turned into a humanitarian disaster, with the UN announcing early this morning that more than 2.8 million refugees have now fled the country (Ukrainian refugees pictured in a school near the Polish-Ukrainian border)

In Russia meanwhile, the Kremlin has cracked down on free speech and the sharing of information relating to the war.

The overwhelming majority of Russia’s top news websites and broadcast channels are already state-owned and serve to parrot the Kremlin’s perspective of domestic and international events.

But in the wake of invasion Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has launched an all-out propaganda offensive, placing restrictions on Facebook and Twitter so severe that the social media networks are effectively unreachable on the Russian internet.

On Friday, the Kremlin announced it would begin to restrict access to Instagram – one of Russia’s preferred social media sites and a vital source of income for thousands of individuals and businesses.

Putin has also blocked access to both Western media and independent news sites in the country, and even brought in a new law which criminalised the spreading of ‘fake news’ – that is, information which deviates from the Kremlin’s propaganda drive.

Protester is dragged away just THREE SECONDS after holding up sign in Moscow

An experiment designed to show how quickly the authorities in Russia are clamping down on free speech amid the war in Ukraine has been caught on camera – and the results are shocking.

Footage has emerged of a horde of policemen descending upon a young woman in Manezhnaya Square in Moscow and dragging her away just three seconds after she held up a small paper sign.

The sign itself bore no message in support of Ukraine or any other issue in defiance of the Kremlin and the will of Vladimir Putin.

Instead, the sign simply read ‘TWO WORDS’ – but even this was enough to trigger a stampede of policemen clad in full riot gear.

Her placard had been in the air for a split second before the team of riot police steamed onto the scene.

‘They’re arresting you already!’, the cameraman exclaimed, but the police grabbed the woman by the arms and had already hauled her away before he had even finished his sentence.

The woman declared: ‘I am just going to say ”two words”, before adding with a knowing smirk: ‘Will they arrest me for this now or not?’ as she raised her tiny placard. The sign reads ‘TWO WORDS’

Her placard had been in the air for a split second before a team of riot police steamed onto the scene, grabbed the woman by the arms and hauled her away in front of the stunned cameraman

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