In the previous article we showed how the USSR played a key role in the creation of Israel. However, any hopes that the USSR had, showed to be misplaced and on the 10th of June 1967 the USSR broke the diplomatic relations with the Israel over its unleashing of the 6-day War, and the diplomatic relation were first restores eight days before the disintegration of the USSR, on the 26th of December 1991.

MiG 25 R / Bezhevets Alexander Savvich

During that time the USSR criticized and warned against the Zionism on par with the Ukrainian nationalism as the children of the same bourgeois imperialism. We have shown several caricature from that time on our Beorn and The Shieldmaiden Telegram channel. Here is one of them:

The caricature «The Family Portrait — Blood Brothers» is from a 1981 edition of the Ukrainian satitical magazine «Perec», and was drawn by S.Gerasimchuk.

The text over the caricature reads in Ukrainian:

«Imperialism, together with the father of the same crooked sons as Zionism and Ukrainian bourgeois nationalism.»

The Ukrainian nationalism holds the microphone of the «Radio Svoboda» («Radio Freedom»), while Zionism has a scroll with the «Plans of aggression» tucked under the arm.

The USSR was also forced to take some very specific military steps to contain the Israeli Zionism, as will become apparent from the following article.

How did the MiG’s flight over an Israeli city prevent a nuclear war? The risky mission of the Soviet pilot

15th of June 2022

We have heard a lot about the Cold War and the Caribbean Crisis, but not everyone knows that apart from the confrontation in Cuba, the world once more stood on the brink of nuclear war in 1973. Open information is still contradictory, so there are several versions of events. But the fact remains the same – it was the flight of the Soviet MiG that led to the calming of a conflict, which could have ended with an exchange of nuclear strikes.

In early October 1973, a military clash began between a coalition of th Arab States led by Syria and Egypt, and Israel. Coalition forces successfully crossed the Suez Canal and inflicted a tangible defeat on Israel in the Golan Heights area.

According to one version, after four days of heavy fighting Golda Meir decided to strike Damascus and Cairo with nuclear weapons in retaliation for the heavy losses of the Israeli army. According to another version, she was ready to make the decision to send aircraft to bomb the high–altitude Aswan dam in Egypt.

In the event of its destruction, 160 billion cubic meters of reservoir water would have swept away all cities and towns of Egypt into the Red and Mediterranean Seas. In both cases, the Soviet Union could not leave such a barbaric decision unanswered and was ready to respond with a nuclear strike against Israel.

At that time, the USSR did not maintain diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, so it began to act through the United States. At the suggestion of KGB Chairman Andropov, a representative of our embassy in Washington handed US Secretary of State Kissinger a message from the world-famous nuclear physicists to the American president.

It was pointed out that the Israeli Prime Minister’s decision would not remain unanswered and the Soviet Union, linked to Egypt and Syria by military cooperation agreements, would certainly give an answer appropriate to the situation. Since there was no response for two days – not without serious doubts – the leadership of the USSR switched to a backup version of the “plan to enforce peace”.

The Deputy Minister of Aviation Industry and two academicians (one on aviation, the second on missile systems for destruction of aerial targets) concurred on the decision that the flight of the Soviet MiG-25R aircraft over Tel Aviv should take place.

At that time, the aircraft had no analogues in the world. Unprecedented flight altitude ceiling: practical – 22km, dynamic – 37km. A speed three times faster than the speed of sound. In fact, it was unattainable for Israeli air defence and aviation.

By that time, for several months, test pilot Alexander Savvich Bezhevets had been mastering the new aircraft in combat conditions, making reconnaissance sorties. On the morning of the 13th of October 1973, he received a top secret assignment. It is not known exactly from which airfield he took off (the options are: near Cairo, Volgograd region, Astrakhan region), and headed towards Tel Aviv.

Having found a target on the locator screen, the Israelis first tried to shoot it down with missiles, then they sent “Mirages” to intercept, then “Phantoms”. Their number and actions are described differently in different sources, but one thing remains unchanged – it is known for sure that the Soviet pilot on the MiG-25R aircraft made several circles over the Israeli city without the slightest harm to himself. Then he returned to the airfield unharmed.

During the flight, Golda Meir was informed about the incident. According to one version, she was simultaneously brought a letter from the Soviet nuclear physicists and an opaque warning that in response to an Israeli nuclear strike, the Soviet Union would have to defend its allies. According to the other version, it was an outright ultimatum that in the event of an Israeli attack, Soviet planes would level all major Israeli cities to the ground.

Comparing the displayed capabilities of the Soviet aviation and the letter, an intelligent woman drew the right conclusions. She understood that a strike on Egypt and Syria could cost her country very dearly. The threat of nuclear war receded into the background. Both sides of the conflict “employ” the political levers.

In the official biography of Alexander Savvich Bezhevets there is no direct indication of his participation in this operation. But Alexander Minaev, the younger brother of the Deputy Minister of Aviation Industry of the USSR of that period, who was directly involved in the events, directly mentions his surname in his article “Flight over Tel Aviv”.

Comparing the time of Bezhevets’ participation in the Arab-Israeli war, the highest professionalism, the type of aircraft being mastered, the level of complexity of the task and the fact that he was soon awarded the highest state title of Hero of the Soviet Union, we can confidently say that it was him.