Aircraft hijacking in Siberia: what we know so far

A passenger of a plane bound from Surgut to Moscow (flight SU1515) hijacked a plane, demanding it to travel to Afghanistan instead.

An Aeroflot Boeing 737-8LJ took off from Surgut for Moscow at 12:55 Moscow time. Fifteen minutes after the takeoff, it changed its course. According to a spokesman for Russia’s National Anti-terrorist Committee (NAC), it was done at the demand from one of the passengers.

The pilot took a decision to land in Khanty-Mansyisk, where it landed at 14:18 Moscow time.  

A source in the local law enforcement agencies said that according to preliminary information the man was drunk during the incident or mentally unstable.

Sources have identified the hijacker as 41-year-old Pavel, a citizen of Russia.

Russian Investigative Committee Spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko said that a man who attempted to hijack a passenger plane bound from Surgut to Moscow has been detained.

"The man has been detained, he is a citizen of Surgut, who was earlier convicted for damaging property," TASS cited Petrenko as saying.

A criminal case has been opened on charges of hijacking an aircraft with threats of violence.