Avionero
A bored kid can point one of these in your direction in the same way that a bored policeman can point his speedgun in your general direction and expect a result.
Even a laser beam diverges (so even if the central beam is still quite narrow, the visible entire beam and "splash" is perhaps metres wide at the sort of range we are discussing).
Because the Moscow atmospherics were helpful to the miscreant in guiding his beam through the crud to the aircraft, I imagine it would be quite easy to get a flash across an aircraft windshield, and maybe even hold it longer than would be comfortable for you if you happened to be looking in his direction.