Russian Pilot Defects to Ukraine for Money, Harkens Back to Cold War Defections of North Korean Pilots
“Russian Pilot Describes Defection to Ukraine, Urges Others to Follow,” reports the Wall Street Journal about a Russian chopper pilot who defected to Ukraine in his Mi-8. He received a $500,000 reward. The article refers to an Israeli program to persuade an Arab pilot to defect with his MiG. But we think the first such…