As one of the V-PVO's principal interceptors, the Su-15 was involved in a number of incidents with foreign aircraft. One such attack was in 1978, when Korean Air Flight 902 was attacked over Murmansk by a PVO Su-15. Although the civilian aircraft survived the missile hit, two passengers were killed, and the damaged plane subsequently made a forced landing on a frozen lake. In 1981 a Baku, Azerbaijan-based Su-15 deliberately rammed an Iranian Canadair CL-44 after it strayed into Soviet airspace.[1] More notorious was the Korean Air Flight 007 incident in 1983, when a Korean Boeing 747 was shot down by a Su-15TM based on Sakhalin, killing all 246 passengers and 23 crew [1]. Although it was produced in large numbers (1290 of all types), the Su-15, like other highly sensitive Soviet aircraft, was never exported to the Warsaw Pact or any other country. Some Su-15 were deployed in Egypt in 1972 but were used with Soviet crews. In Russia, the Su-15 was abruptly retired in 1993 to comply with the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. Most were hastily scrapped in favour of more advanced interceptors, including the Su-27 'Flanker' and MiG-31 'Foxhound.' In Ukraine, the last Su-15s (at Kramatorsk and Belbek) were withdrawn from use in 1996.
