Kremlin accuses Kiev

Russia thwarts hijacking of strategic bomber

Tu-22M3 bomber

(Bild: Sergey Denisenko stock.adobe)

According to reports by Russian news agencies, the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB has stopped preparations by Ukrainian troops to hijack a Tu-22M3 strategic bomber and fly it to Ukraine. The state news agency TASS reported that Moscow had received information and then attacked the Oserne airfield west of Kiev.

"Ukrainian intelligence had intended to recruit a Russian military pilot in exchange for a financial reward and the granting of Italian citizenship to persuade 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 allegedly promised three million dollars (approx. 2,700,000 euros) for this. Reuters was unable to independently verify this information. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.

The Russian secret service disseminated an edited video showing the pilot - although his face is hidden by a helmet. A representative of the Ukrainian secret service had contacted him via Telegram and offered to hijack a strategic bomber, it said.

Watch the video here:

Memories of the Kuzminov case come flooding back
The best-known case of Russian aviation technology being hijacked by Ukrainian secret services dates back to August 2023. Russian pilot Maxim Kuzminov flew an Mi-8 army helicopter to Ukraine. Kuzminov claimed that he had contacted the Ukrainian authorities himself because he did not want to fight on the front line.

The remaining members of the helicopter crew were killed during the hijacking. According to the New York Times, the Ukrainian authorities paid Kuzminov 500,000 US dollars (461,000 euros) for the kidnapping and also issued him a Ukrainian passport under a different name. As a result, Russia threatened that Kuzminov would be found and that he would "not live to see his trial". On February 13, the young man died in Spain, his body showing several gunshot wounds. Apparently, the Kremlin had coordinated the contract killing from Vienna.