The World War II mystery of what happened to a Finnish passenger plane after it was shot down over the Baltic Sea by Soviet bombers appears to finally be solved more than eight decades later
The cabin of the Junkers Ju 52 aircraft"Kaleva" by the Finnish airline Aero photographed in July 1936. With U.S. and French diplomatic couriers aboard, the civilian plane was shot down over the Baltic Sea by Soviet bombers on June 14, 1940 just days before Moscow annexed the three Baltic states. The mysterious case which claimed the lives of nine people is being solved after 84 years as an Estonian diving group has located the aircraft's wreckage off a tiny island close to Tallinn.
The downing of the civilian plane, named Kaleva, en route from Tallinn to Helsinki happened on June 14, 1940 — just three months after Finland had signed a peace treaty with Moscow following the 1939-40 Winter War. Though well documented by books, research and television documentaries, the 84-year-old mystery has intrigued Finns. The case is an essential part of the Nordic country’s complex World War II history and sheds light into its troubled ties with Moscow.
The 27-year-old Antheil, the younger brother of the acclaimed composer and pianist George Antheil, was on a rushed government mission evacuating sensitive diplomatic pouches from U.S. missions in Tallinn and Riga, Latvia. as it had become clear that Moscow was preparing to annex the small Baltic nations.
This has led to conspiracy theories regarding the contents of the pouches and Moscow's decision to shoot down the plane. It still remains unclear why precisely the Soviet Union decided to down a civilian Finnish passenger plane during peacetime. New video taken by underwater robots from Peremees’ company show clear images of the three-engine Junkers’ landing gear, one of the motors and parts of the wings.
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