Mathias Rust Mathias Rust Mathias Rust (born 1 June 1968) is a German aviator known for his illegal landing near Red Square in Moscow on 28 May 1987. An amateur pilot, the teenager flew from Helsinki, Finland, to Moscow, being tracked several times by Soviet air defence and interceptors. The Soviet fighters never received permission to shoot him down, and several times his aeroplane was mistaken for a friendly aircraft. He landed on Vasilevsky Descent next to Red Square near the Kremlin in the capital of the Soviet Union. Rust said he wanted to create an "imaginary bridge" to the East, and
Mark Errin Rust the murders and a concurrent sentence of 12 years for the other offences. On September 22, 2014, Rust applied to the court to have a non-parole period imposed on his sentence, which would allow him to apply for parole and potentially be released from prison once the non-parole period had expired. Prison authorities opposed the request, stating that he was "aggressive and abusive" towards prison guards, although Rust denied the allegations. Rust's counsel claimed that his whole life term made his imprisonment "particularly difficult" for his mental health. , the application is ongoing. In addition to his custodial sentence, Rust