The famous, secret scandal, bitter end that took refuge in America …

On August 1, 1979, the Moscow Bolshoi Theater began a tour of the United States. The theater will perform in New York for a while, and then in Chicago and He was going to Los Angeles.

It became known on August 23, one of the last days in New York that, actor of the theater Alexander Godunov political applied for asylum in the United States. The incident could have been relatively quiet, but not without a problem: Godunov’s wife, Lyudmila Vlasova, was on the theater staff. The actor said he also wanted to stay in the United States, but the Soviet embassy claimed otherwise. The result lasted several days between the two countries and There was tension in the film will be the plot in the future.

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Lyudmila Vlasova (maiden name Markova) in 1942 Moscow was born. Seeing her passion for dance, her mother enrolled her in choreography school. Immediately after graduating, he joined the Bolshoi Theater. She marries a choreographer named Stanislav Vlasov, who is better known by this surname.

Alexander Godunov was born in 1949 in Sakhalin. His parents divorced when he was three years old and Sasha moved to Riga with his mother. In 1958 he began to study at the Riga School of Choreography. Here he became friends with another future star of Soviet ballet, Mikhail Baryshnikov.

In 1967-1971 Moscow She also works at the Young Ballet. In 1971 he joined the Bolshoi Theater. Here he meets Lyudmila Vlasova and he is shot. Although Alexander is seven years younger, Lyudmila still loves him and divorces her husband. They get married the same year.

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In the Bolshoi Theater, Godunov becomes a partner of the legendary ballerina Maya Plisetskaya. They starred in the 1974 film ballet Anna Karenina. According to Plisetskaya according to, on a foreign tour shortly after filming, Godunov says he is thinking about staying abroad. Plisetskaya expresses it that, Don’t stay this time, let the film we shot be released.

That same year, another ballet star, Alexander’s childhood friend Mikhail Baryshnikov, did not return from a tour of the United States. and stays there. This incident did not go unnoticed by Godunova. Thinking that he could follow Baryshnikov’s example, Soviet officials barred him from touring for a while.

Finally, in 1979, I had the opportunity to go to America. To some probabilities according tothe reason for this opportunity was a firm condition of the American side – if the famous Godunov is not present, the contract will be terminated.

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On August 19, 1979, Alexander performed for the last time as part of the Bolshoi Theater. and Played the role of Tibalt in the ballet “Juliet”. Early the next day, Lyudmila left the hotel while they were still asleep. To the so-called according tohe had previously talked to his wife about staying in America, but Lyudmila said she would not leave her mother alone in Moscow.

Another possibility according tostill hesitant (probably) that, To Lyudmila’s position according to) Godunov is a guest of American photographer Vladimir Bliox and he drank a lot in his apartment and “turned off” on the floor. Bliox also took a picture of him and sold it to a newspaper. This meant that Godunov would no longer be expelled from the USSR, because a Soviet citizen could not even behave in a “decaying capitalist country.”

For the next three days, there was no show in which Godunov would take part according to Although his absence was a cause for concern, there was hope that everything would end well. On August 23, Godunov political It turned out that he applied for asylum. Moreover, he states that, his wife also intends to stay in America. Apparently, he hoped that Milan would change his mind.

The American public, as usual, reacts quickly to the incident. People holding Free Ludmila posters appear in front of the Meyflauer Hotel. Soviet security officers (KGB) took the actress out of the hotel through the garage and took her to the consulate. The US government notified the Soviet embassy that, their representatives will not allow the ballerina to leave the country without talking to Vlasova.

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The next day, the State Department informed the Soviet embassy again that, they should talk to Vlasova, and Soviet diplomat Vladilen Vasev said he saw no problem with that. Two employees of the department flew to New York to talk to the actress.

At first glance, there should not have been any difficulty in this matter. In fact, Vlasova said she wanted to return to her country. He could have flown freely to Moscow after telling the Americans the same thing. But apparently, the Russians were afraid that the ballerina could change her mind.

The same day, Lyudmila was taken to Kennedy Airport in an embassy car and surrounded by eight men, they boarded an Il-62 plane belonging to the Soviet company Aeroflot, flying to Moscow. U.S. officials learned of this and they no longer allowed the plane to take off from the terminal and land on the runway. so snowsquealing began.

Migration officials and The translator approached Vlasova and told her that she could stay in the United States. The actress said she wanted to return to her country. This time the Soviet consulateflour the workers also brought themselves. Although the Americans heard Lyudmila’s opinion, they thought that she might be under pressure on the Soviet plane. They told the actress to get off the plane and offered to express their opinion without Soviet representatives. The Russians did not agree.

The next proposal of the Americans is a mobile cabin on the door of the plane yapignite and there were negotiations. But the Soviet side did not agree. So, snowThe first day of racing ended inconclusively. 112 passengers on board (and 11 crew members) had to spend the night here. They did not understand why they were delayed for so long. Only after one of them began listening to a handheld radio did they learn that they were at the center of an international scandal.

For the next two days, nothing changed in her husband. The Russians did not accept the offer of a mobile salon, and the Americans did not propose a new one. On the first day alone, 44 non-USSR passengers flew on another plane to London and from there to Moscow. On the second day, 15 Soviet citizens also chose to fly another plane. Thus, a total of 53 passengers remained.

The USSR press reported that the Soviet plane was intercepted by the Americans under the “pretext” of talking to one of the passengers. But at the root of the matter was not a word about the fact that the passenger’s wife remained in America.

Finally, on August 27, the Russians agreed to negotiate in a mobile salon. Before 3 o’clock in the afternoon to the front door of the salon yaplit up. The conversation started at 3 o’clock and total 20 lasted a minute. Only Lyudmila Vlasova in the hall, which was attended by several people from both the United States and the Soviet Union and US diplomat Donald McHenry and an interpreter spoke. The actress repeated her thoughts before and He said he wanted to return to Moscow of his choice.

The plane was allowed to fly after McHenry’s report to the State Department, but it was still delayed due to the storm. Finally, at 18.39, the Il-62 took off and The next morning he landed in Moscow.

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Despite the incident, the tour of the Bolshoi Theater continued. Godunov’s roles were assigned to Leonid Kozlov. On September 16, he was also in Los Angeles political asked for shelter. Unlike Godunov, Kozlov’s wife, Veronica, also supported him.

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Kennedy weather In 1985, a film called “Flight 222” was shot in the USSR based on what happened to Lyudmila Vlasova in the port. Here, of course, the Soviet side was completely justified, although the issue could be resolved without turning it into a scandal. The film ended with the plane taking off and of course that, He did not mention that the Kozlovs remained in America.

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Godunov’s American life was not so successful, though that, soon became a millionaire. He loved Lyudmila and he tried to quench his longing with a drink. This also affected his physical shape. Alexander left ballet in 1985.

Since that year trustwas shot in a number of Hollywood movies. The most famous of them was “Invincible”, made in 1988 and starring Bruce Ullis.

Alexander Godunov died in 1995. Expert opinion according tothe cause of death was “severe hepatitis due to chronic alcoholism”…