Russian intelligence has claimed that it foiled a sophisticated plot from Ukrainian spies to hijack several military jets. A security official official and a pilot, who is said to have been targeted by Kiev's agents, have shared details of the operation with RT.
Russia's Federal Security Service (the FSB) has sensationally added that a leading figure from the US-government funded investigative organization Bellingcat – which presents itself as a journalistic grouping – was also involved in the scheme, which it believes was "supervised by NATO intelligence agencies." The FSB specifically pointed the finger at British operatives.
It explained that Russian pilots were promised passports from EU members states, and substantial cash rewards in order to participate in the plot.
Early in the ongoing conflict, the Ukrainians compiled a list of Russian military hardware, using publicly available information. They promised monetary rewards for potential defectors who managed to bring the equipment with them. The more elaborate the weapons were, the better the rewards that were promised, with warplanes, helicopters and tanks fetching the top payment of up to $1 million.
When the public call for defectors fell flat, Ukraine’s security service targeted individual Russian servicemen – pilots in particular – directly. They apparently traced and identified the airmen through the digital trail they left online, an operative with the Russian Security Service (the FSB) told RT TV reporter Maria Finoshina. Kiev appeared to be specifically interested in Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers and Tu-22M3 strategic aircraft, according to the source.
A Su-34 pilot targeted in the plot told RT that he was initially reluctant to speak with the Ukrainian spies, believing the promise of $1 million for stealing warplanes and defecting to Kiev to be a prank. After realizing his interlocutors were serious about the proposal, he tipped off Russian intelligence, which then monitored subsequent conversations.
“Initially, of course, I took it as a joke, but after a period of talking it became clear that I was dealing with representatives of the Ukrainian intelligence service and their Western partners,” the pilot said. “Also, I was supposed to get passports of European states and a comfortable life abroad was promised.”
Kiev's intelligence operatives apparently believed the Russian pilots who they contacted were ready to commit treason and hijack their own warplanes, putting them in touch with a Ukrainian pilot to discuss technical details.
“They believed so much in the possibility of organizing the hijacking that they revealed the layout of their defense systems, altitude maps, and lots of other useful information to us,” the Russian airman said, adding that the information obtained from the Ukrainians was used during the military operation.
To prove that the pilots were actually able to pull off the hijacking and had access to the specific warplanes, Ukrainian intelligence demanded video proof from them. The pilots were paid between $4,000 and $7,000 per video, which showed them getting into the planes while holding pieces of paper with specific numbers.
