Eduard Kuznetsov, Soviet Era Dissident and Would-Be Hijacker Dies at 86

Photo Credit: Eduard Kuznetsov

Eduard Kuznetsov - Soviet-Israeli dissident, refusenik, journalist, and writer.

Eduard Kuznetsov, a prominent Soviet-Israeli prisoner of Zion, dissident and journalist, died in Israel today at the age of 86.

Kuznetsov was one of the most prominent figures in the Soviet Jewish dissident movement of the 1970s and gained international attention for his role in a failed attempt to escape the Soviet Union by hijacking an airplane.

He was a central organizer of a daring plan to hijack a small 12-seater aircraft from Leningrad’s Smolny Airport to escape to Sweden in 1970, and ultimately reach Israel. Kuznetsov and 16 other Jews were arrested before they could follow through with their plan.

However, the Leningrad trial and the severity of their sentences was a watershed moment for the movement for Soviet Jewish emigration. Kuznetsov and Mark Dymshits were sentenced to death, sparking worldwide protests and interventions from prominent figures including philosophers Jean-Paul Sartre and Bertrand Russell. Under international pressure, the Soviet authorities commuted their sentences to 15 years in prison.

Kuznetsov had already established himself as a dissident long before the Leningrad trial . In the 1950s and early 1960s, he was involved in underground anti-Soviet activities while studying philosophy at Moscow University, leading to his first imprisonment from 1961-1968.

During his second imprisonment following the hijacking attempt, Kuznetsov managed to document his experiences in detailed diaries that were smuggled out of the camps. These were later published as “Prison Diaries,” providing a powerful testimony of life in the Soviet prison system and becoming an important document of the era.

In 1979, Kuznetsov and four other dissidents were freed in exchange for two Soviet spies arrested in the United States.

After his release, he emigrated to Israel where he continued his work as a writer and journalist. He became the editor of “Vesti,” an influential Russian-language newspaper in Israel, and wrote several books about his experiences.