Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it foiled a plan by Ukrainian and British spies to recruit a Russian pilot by offering him $3 million to steal a MiG-31 fighter jet armed with a Kinzhal supersonic missile, Russian state media reported.
RIA, citing the FSB, reported that the pilot was to fly the aircraft to the NATO airbase in Constanta, Romania, where it would be shot down by anti-aircraft defense systems.
The FSB noted that Ukraine and Britain were planning a large-scale “provocation” using the aircraft and that the Ukrainian military’s intelligence service had tried to recruit Russian pilots to steal the MiG-31 by offering them $3 million.
“The measures taken prevented the plans of the Ukrainian and British intelligence services for a large-scale provocation,” RIA noted.
Russian state television showed images of messages and broadcast recordings of a man allegedly working for Ukrainian and British intelligence agencies. He offered $3 million to a Russian pilot to fly a MiG-31 to Europe, adding that the pilot had been offered foreign citizenship.
Reuters could not confirm this information from an independent source.
The Kinzhal is an air-launched ballistic missile that Moscow says is supersonic, capable of very high speeds and maneuvering to avoid being detected and easily shot down by anti-aircraft defense systems.
Moscow has long accused London of fomenting the war in Ukraine and that members of British intelligence are helping Kiev carry out a series of operations deep into Russian territory.
For its part, London has repeatedly warned that Russian intelligence agencies are trying to wreak havoc in Britain and Europe in order to undermine democracy.
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