დათო ტურაშვილი Flight from the USSR | Georgian Fiction

The bestselling novel of Dato Turashvili is based on the most tragic and scandalous story of Soviet Georgia of 1980s. Seven young people hijacked an airplane to escape from the Soviet Union, which was an exceptional action, because at that time even a thought of escaping from the Soviet Union was criminal! The Soviet government condemned most of these young people to death for their naive even if dangerous attempt.

The public opinion was split. A part of the public considered the youngsters to be just ordinary terrorists. The other part would argue that living under the Soviet regime was so unbearable that this could even justify the hijacking of a plane.

Flight from the USSR gives an opportunity to the reader to closely follow the leading characters, and learn more about their motifs and intentions than it would be possible by just reading dry court documents. Flight from the USSR was staged in Georgian Free Theatre and is one of the most successful plays.