The head of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, ordered the initiation of a criminal case due to the fact that a participant in the war in Ukraine, who was suspected of smoking on board the plane, was removed from the flight. This was reported by the department's press service.
As the Investigative Committee clarified, the man was returning home after treatment for an injury. But airline employees suspected him of smoking and removed him from the flight. “However, the smoke detectors did not work, and no other facts were established to support these claims,” the department added.
“I won’t go, I’m going home, Christmas trees. I'm going home after being wounded. I didn't smoke on your plane in this one. Fir trees, how are you in general?” said a war participant before he was taken out of the plane. A story about him was published by the Katun 24 TV channel. The flight attendant who detained the passenger noted that she smelled cigarettes after the man visited the toilet. When asked where he put the cigarette butt, the passenger began to deny that he had smoked.
According to Katun 24, on the night of February 29, a war veteran who was wounded during the assault on Avdeevka planned to go from Moscow to Barnaul by plane of Pobeda airline. According to a native of the Altai Territory, he did not smoke on board, and the smell of cigarettes came from his clothes. Other passengers noted that they smelled the smell on the bus that took them from the airport building to the plane. As a result, the flight departed with an hour and a half delay.