Russia says foiled spy plot to steal MiG-31 jet armed with hypersonic missile
The FSB said Ukraine and Britain had planned a large-scale ‘provocation’ using the hijacked aircraft
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had foiled a plot by Ukrainian and British spies to tempt Russian pilots to steal a MiG-31 jet armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile for US$3 million, state media reported on Tuesday.
The RIA news agency cited the FSB as saying that the hijacked jet was to be flown toward a Nato airbase in the Romanian city of Constanta, where it could have been shot down by air defences, the agency reported.
The FSB, the main successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said Ukraine and Britain had planned a large-scale “provocation” using the hijacked aircraft, and that Ukrainian military intelligence had sought to recruit Russian pilots for US$3 million to steal the fighter.
“The measures taken have thwarted the Ukrainian and British intelligence services’ plans for a large-scale provocation,” RIA cited the FSB as saying.
State TV showed pictures of messages and recordings of a man who they said was working for Ukrainian and British intelligence and had offered US$3 million to a Russian pilot to fly a MiG to Europe and that the pilot had also been offered citizenship.