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What did 8 January 2020 mean for Kyiv?
Summary
A Ukrainian airliner crash near Tehran and a pipeline inauguration marked the same day, 8 January 2020, in the region.
What happened on 8 January 2020, and why did it weigh so heavily on Ukraine? A Boeing 737-800 operated by Ukraine International Airlines, flying as Flight 752, crashed while taking off from Tehran Imam Khomeini International Airport. All 176 people on board were killed.
The crash came amid the 2019–20 Persian Gulf crisis, and as reported at the time it was under investigation. The aircraft was bound for Kyiv. For a Ukrainian carrier, the loss of an entire flight was a national tragedy as well as an aviation disaster.
What was learned later
The cause of the crash became clear only afterwards. Later accounts established that the aircraft was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shortly after takeoff. That was not known on 8 January 2020, when the event was reported as a crash under investigation.
A pipeline opens the same day
On the same date, the heads of state of Turkey, Russia, Serbia and Bulgaria formally inaugurated the TurkStream gas pipelines. The ceremony belonged to a different strand of regional affairs from the disaster in Iran, and the two events had no connection. Yet they fell on one calendar day, and both concerned the movement of people or energy across the wider region around Ukraine.
Looking back, the day is remembered chiefly for the 176 lives lost on the flight to Kyiv. The pipeline ceremony was a notable regional event, but it was the crash that defined 8 January 2020 for Ukrainian readers.
