Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 — flight shot down by Iranian armed forces
All 176 people aboard were killed when Iranian forces mistakenly shot down a civilian airliner amid acute military tensions with the United States.
Key Facts
- Total fatalities
- 176 people
- Aircraft type
- Boeing 737-800
- Date of incident
- 8 January 2020
- Responsible party
- Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)
- Days after Soleimani assassination
- 5 days
- Missiles fired at aircraft
- 2 surface-to-air missiles
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Tensions between Iran and the United States escalated sharply after the U.S. assassination of IRGC commander Qasem Soleimani on 3 January 2020. Hours before the incident, Iran launched Operation Martyr Soleimani, firing ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in Iraq, leaving IRGC air defense operators on high alert and anticipating a potential American counterattack.
Shortly after takeoff from Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport on 8 January 2020, Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752—bound for Kyiv—was struck by two surface-to-air missiles fired by the IRGC. Operators had mistaken the Boeing 737-800 for a cruise missile. All 176 occupants, including passengers of multiple nationalities, were killed instantly.
Iran initially denied responsibility, but on 11 January 2020 admitted the IRGC had shot down the aircraft unintentionally. The admission provoked a renewed wave of anti-government protests in Iran, with demonstrators calling for the removal of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and prompted international condemnation and calls for accountability from countries whose nationals were among the dead.