A hijacker claiming to be wired with explosives seized a Russian plane Wednesday but was overpowered by commandos after he demanded $10 million and safe passage to Switzerland. All 155 crew and passengers aboard the Ilyushin-62 were released unharmed after commandos rushed the plane and grabbed the hijacker, less than an hour after the flight landed at Sheremetyevo-1 airport in Moscow. Security officials said the man, identified as Gennady Todikov, 59, was mentally unstable and had sent letters to the government in the past calling for the “reconstruction of the world.” Todikov, in footage shown on Russian television, said he was frustrated when he got no answer to letters sent to President Boris Yeltsin and the government asking to emigrate.
