Kremlin blames Kiev – Russia thwarts hijacking of strategic bomber

“Ukrainian intelligence planned to recruit a Russian military pilot in exchange for a financial reward and the granting of Italian citizenship, in order to convince him to fly and land a missile carrier in Ukraine,” the FSB said on its website. According to the Telegram channel ‘Mash’, the pilot was promised three million dollars (about 2.7 million euros) for this. Reuters could not independently verify this information. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

Russian intelligence released an edited video showing the pilot, but his face hidden by a helmet. A representative of the Ukrainian secret service contacted him via Telegram and offered to hijack a strategic bomber, it was said.

Here’s the video:

Memories of the Kuzminov case surface
The most famous case of Russian aviation technology being hijacked by Ukrainian secret services dates back to August 2023. Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov flew an Mi-8 military helicopter into Ukraine. Kuzminov claimed that he himself contacted the Ukrainian authorities because he did not want to fight on the front lines.

During the hijacking, the remaining members of the helicopter crew were killed. According to the New York Times, Ukrainian authorities paid Kuzminov $500,000 (461,000 euros) for the kidnapping and also gave him a Ukrainian passport under a false name. As a result, Russia threatened that Kuzminov would be found and “not face trial.” The young man died on February 13 in Spain, his body showing multiple gunshot wounds. Apparently, the Kremlin coordinated the assassinations from Vienna.