FSB foils NATO-supervised Ukrainian operation to hijack Russian planes
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The Russian Federal Security Service also exposes the participation of UK intelligence services in the foiled Ukrainian operation.
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Russian Federal Security Service (FSB)
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced Monday that it had foiled a Ukrainian military intelligence operation to hijack Russian Aerospace Forces combat aircraft, which was supervised by NATO special services.
In a statement, the FSB said: "The Russian Federal Security Service uncovered and stopped the operation of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense to hijack combat aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces, supervised by NATO special services".
Ukrainian military intelligence officers, affiliated with the country's political leadership, attempted to recruit Russian military pilots in exchange for a monetary reward and guarantees of obtaining citizenship in one of the EU countries, according to the statement.
Ukrainian officers have also attempted to persuade Russian military pilots to land aircraft at airfields controlled by Ukraine's armed forces, it added.
The statement concluded by saying that the Ukrainian special services personnel involved in this operation, as well as their accomplices, have been identified.
UK, Bellingcat highly involved
The FSB additionally exposed that the UK intelligence services provided significant assistance to Ukrainian military intelligence in its operation to hijack Russian military aircraft.
"The operation obviously was carried out with the support of Western, primarily British, intelligence services," an FSB officer was quoted by the Rossiya 24 channel.
According to materials provided by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Christo Grozev, the executive director of investigative journalist group Bellingcat (listed as a foreign agent in Russia), joined a Ukrainian military intelligence operation aimed at hijacking Russian military aircraft.
In further detail, Grozev found two couriers who met a courier from Moscow hired by Ukrainian intelligence officers who were carrying an advance payment of $4,000 for a Russian pilot who reportedly agreed to the hijack, as per Grozev's correspondence with one of the operation's participants, which was broadcasted by Rossiya 24.
Read more: FSB captures a former Ukrainian neo-Nazi planning an attack in Crimea
