Renowned Il-76, Captured By Taliban, Arrives In Minsk

For what purpose?

On Tuesday at 22:51, an Il-76TD (RA-76842), operated by the Russian airline Aviacon Cytotrans, landed at the Minsk National Airport.

Apparently, the plane arrived for maintenance at the Minsk Civil Aviation Plant #407.

The plane is already 29 years old, which is a very respected age, but this is not what makes this plane remarkable, writes nashaniva.com.

It was this plane that was intercepted by Taliban terrorists in the skies over Afghanistan on August 3, 1995.

The Taliban took a fighter into the sky and forced the Il-76 to land in Kandahar. There were seven crew members on board the Il-76, and they were transporting ammunition for the Afghan government.

The entire crew, along with the plane, were taken prisoners, and they remained in captivity for 378 days.

On August 16, 1996, under the pretext of regular aircraft maintenance, the crew managed to start the engines and escape through Iran with the remaining fuel.

The Russian film “Kandahar” was made based on this story.