N.V. Ogarkov; Former Soviet Military Chief
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MOSCOW — Marshal Nikolai V. Ogarkov, who ordered the downing of a South Korean airliner that strayed into Soviet airspace in 1983, has died at the age of 76.
Ogarkov died Sunday of an undisclosed illness.
The official obituary in the military newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda, or Red Star, said Ogarkov “dedicated himself to selfless service to the motherland and to consolidation of the combat might of the armed forces.”
Ogarkov, while he was chief of staff of the Soviet armed forces, won notoriety in 1983 for explaining to the West the downing of Korean Airlines Flight 007 when it flew off course and crossed over Soviet territory. All 269 crew members and passengers died.
Ogarkov insisted that his forces were certain the airliner was a spy plane.
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