FSB: Ukraine and Britain tried to hijack Russian MiG-31 fighter jet

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that a joint operation between Ukraine and the UK aimed to hijack a Russian Air Force MiG-31 fighter jet.

The FSB statement said the plane in question was carrying the hypersonic Kinjal missile and that the hijacking attempt was organised as part of a "large-scale provocation plan".

In the statement,

The operation, planned by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's Chief Intelligence Directorate (GUR) and British advisors, was based on the luring of Russian pilots for $3 million. The plan aimed to smuggle the MiG-31 abroad and ensure that the aircraft, equipped with the Kinjal missile, would be shot down by NATO air defense systems.

In this context, the FSB announced that the NATO air base in Constanta, Romania, was determined as the target point of the operation.

Russia retaliates: Kyiv and Khmelnytsk hit

The FSB announced that the Russian Air Force retaliated after the operation failed.

According to the statement, Russia targeted the Electronic Intelligence Center of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in the Kyiv region and the Starokostiantinov Air Base in the Khmelnytsk region with Kinjal hypersonic missiles.

Starokostiantinov Air Base has become one of the important centers of NATO-Ukraine cooperation due to the deployment of F-16 fighter jets in recent months.

This allegation rekindles Moscow's recent accusations of intelligence cooperation between Kyiv and Western countries. Kyiv and London have yet to issue an official statement on the matter.