FSB Thwarts Ukrainian-UK Plot to Hijack Russian MiG-31 Carrying Kinzhal Missile: What's Known
FSB Thwarts Ukrainian-UK Plot to Hijack Russian MiG-31 Carrying Kinzhal Missile: What's Known
A joint operation by Ukrainian military intelligence and British handlers to seize a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile was uncovered and stopped, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said.
Key details:
▪Ukrainian intelligence, with British backing, targeted Russian MiG-31 pilots — offering $1 million to defect, $3 million if the jet and Kinzhal missile were delivered to a designated place;
▪Recruits were also promised Western citizenship and payments via personal bank accounts;
▪Bellingcat — a Netherlands-based investigative group designated as “undesirable” in Russia — was used as a cover. An operator, claiming to be a Bellingcat journalist, contacted pilots via Telegram, sent a fake press card, and offered “consultation” payments;
▪Notably, Bellingcat and its former head were involved in an attempted hijacking of a Russian military aircraft in 2022;
One pilot reported the contact in 2024, refused further communication, and alerted authorities;
▪Ukrainian planners allegedly instructed navigators to “shoot, strangle, or sedate” the pilot during the hijack;
▪The goal was to fly the hijacked MiG-31 to NATO’s largest airbase in Constanta, Romania — where it would be destroyed by air defenses to falsely frame Russia;
▪In response to the foiled provocation, on November 9–10, Russian Aerospace Forces launched Kinzhal hypersonic missiles at Ukraine’s Electronic Intelligence Center and an airfield in, home to F-16 jets;
▪The FSB warned that Kiev’s attempted provocation could have led to unpredictable and serious consequences.
Subscribe to @sputnik_africa
