the story doesn't tell, but it might be either way.
However, the soviets had a long history of shooting down airliners in international airspace, starting from 40's: OH-ALL "Kaleva". It was nowhere near soviet airspace but on a scheduled flight between two independent countries when shot downby two soviet planes from close range. And it did not have any spying equipment. Nor did AY915, a DC10 which was fired at with a missile.
Last edited by Beamr; 19th Dec 2020 at 05:27.