an incident in May 1960 when a US U-2 spy plane (= aircraft that takes secret photographs of enemy places) was shot down over the USSR. The pilot Gary Powers survived. The Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev ended a meeting in Paris with US President Eisenhower 11 days later when Eisenhower refused to say he was sorry. Powers was exchanged for the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel in 1962.
U-2 INCIDENT
Meaning of U-2 INCIDENT in English
Oxford guide to British and American culture English vocabulary. Руководство по британской и американской культуре, Оксфордский английский словарь. 2005