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Russia’s FSB said it has foiled a Ukrainian attempt to hijack a strategic bomber with missiles.
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Ukraine promised the pilot money and Italian citizenship to take off and land in Ukraine.
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It was also alleged that NATO special services were involved in the failed operation.
Russia’s Federal Security Service said it has foiled a Ukrainian attempt to hijack a strategic bomber with missiles.
“The FSB has thwarted a new attempt by the Ukrainian special services to carry out an operation to hijack the Tu-22M3 strategic long-range bomber,” the report said. rack on monday, per a translation by The Moscow Times.
According to the FSB, Ukrainian intelligence promised an anonymous Russian military pilot money and Italian citizenship in exchange for the plane taking off and landing in Ukraine.
Instead, the pilot told his commanders everything, according to the report.
The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti published a video of the alleged pilot and an alleged conversation between him and someone from the Ukrainian secret service, in which the pilot and his family were allegedly threatened.
The FSB also claimed that NATO special forces took part in the hijacking attempt, without providing evidence, and that they were able to obtain intelligence from the pilot that allowed Russia to attack an air base in northwestern Ukraine.
The statement did not say when the alleged attack took place.
Russia’s FSB and Ukraine’s security service did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Tu-22M3 supersonic bombers were used with devastating results during the war, particularly to strike targets in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in April 2022.
As a result, Ukraine has repeatedly attacked the planes, sometimes at airfields deep inside Russia.
Last August, photos seemed to show the remains of a Russian Toplev Tu-22M3 bomber at a base located about 400 miles from the Russia-Ukraine border.
The British Ministry of Defence said The attack was likely carried out from Russia, as drones launched from Ukraine could not reach that far.
In a separate attack in April, Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Service said it shot down one of the Russian Tu-22M3 bombers.
If confirmed, it would be the first time a missile has been shot down in a single shot since Russia launched a large-scale invasion in February 2022.
Read the original article at Business insider