The Russian armed forces are authorized to shoot down passenger planes during border intrusions in exceptional cases and if there are no people or hostages aboard, a document with new rules for the use of weapons for the protection of the Russian borders published on Wednesday, said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th February, 2020) The Russian armed forces are authorized to shoot down passenger planes during border intrusions in exceptional cases and if there are no people or hostages aboard, a document with new rules for the use of weapons for the protection of the Russian borders published on Wednesday, said.
"In case the violating aircraft refuse to carry out the radio commands and/or visual signals to land or refuse to obey without explanation, the weapons and military equipment on duty are to be used ... if there is information about the absence of passengers on board the violating aircraft," the decree, which was uploaded to Russia's official internet portal of legal information, read.
The revised rules replaced a 1994 document, which also banned the downing of aircraft carrying passengers.
Opening fire on an intruder is an extreme measure. First, the aerospace forces must give the trespasser radio commands and visual signals to withdraw from the Russian airspace and if it fails to do so, it will be forced to land or leave the country's airspace. Similar rules were provided in the 1994 decree.
The new document also outlines the rules for dealing with hijacked aircraft. The military is expected to force such jets to land at designated aerodromes, and if they refuse to comply with these requirements, and only if there are no hostages, weapons can be used against them.
The world's most notorious aircraft hijacking incident took place on September 11, 2001, when a number of terrorist attacks were carried out in the United States using civilian aircraft with passengers on board. This incident sparked a social debate in many countries whether it was possible to use force against aircraft hijacked by terrorists if there were passengers aboard.
