The Ukrainian man, identified as Artem Hozlov, claimed he had a bomb and tried to divert a Turkey-bound Pegasus Airlines flight carrying 110 passengers which originated in Kharkiv, Ukraine toward Sochi.
"We have launched an investigation into an attempt to commit an act of terror and an attempt to hijack a plane," Ukraine Security Service investigative department chief Maxim Lenko told reporters.
Coming just hours before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi – just across the Black Sea from Istanbul – the suspicion was immediately raised that it could be connected to the Olympics.
Terrorists from the Caucasus region of Russia have threatened to launch an attack on the Games. Earlier this week the United States warned that terrorists could be attempting to bring a bomb to Sochi hidden inside toothpaste tubes. And the US has banned the transport of all liquids and gels on flights to Russia, in response to the heightened threat.
However Mr Lenko said the Ukrainian – who one official in Kiev said was "in an advanced state of drunkenness" during the incident – had a personal dislike for the politics of President Viktor Yanukovych and his Russian counterpart and ally Vladimir Putin.
Yanukovych's "hands are drenched in blood", the man said as he demanded the plane be flown to Sochi where the Ukrainian leader held crisis talks with Putin, according to Lenko.
The meeting on the sidelines of the Games' opening ceremony focused on a prolonged political crisis in Ukraine that has pitted the interests of Russia against those of the West.
The suspect is expected to remain in Turkey during the course of the investigation.
He faces 10 years in prison if tried and convicted in Ukraine. But Lenko said that Kiev had not yet filed a formal extradition request.
Edited by Andrew Marszal
"We have launched an investigation into an attempt to commit an act of terror and an attempt to hijack a plane," Ukraine Security Service investigative department chief Maxim Lenko told reporters.
Coming just hours before the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi – just across the Black Sea from Istanbul – the suspicion was immediately raised that it could be connected to the Olympics.
Terrorists from the Caucasus region of Russia have threatened to launch an attack on the Games. Earlier this week the United States warned that terrorists could be attempting to bring a bomb to Sochi hidden inside toothpaste tubes. And the US has banned the transport of all liquids and gels on flights to Russia, in response to the heightened threat.
However Mr Lenko said the Ukrainian – who one official in Kiev said was "in an advanced state of drunkenness" during the incident – had a personal dislike for the politics of President Viktor Yanukovych and his Russian counterpart and ally Vladimir Putin.
Yanukovych's "hands are drenched in blood", the man said as he demanded the plane be flown to Sochi where the Ukrainian leader held crisis talks with Putin, according to Lenko.
The meeting on the sidelines of the Games' opening ceremony focused on a prolonged political crisis in Ukraine that has pitted the interests of Russia against those of the West.
The suspect is expected to remain in Turkey during the course of the investigation.
He faces 10 years in prison if tried and convicted in Ukraine. But Lenko said that Kiev had not yet filed a formal extradition request.
Edited by Andrew Marszal
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