Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) claims it thwarted a sophisticated Anglo-Ukrainian plot to hijack a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet equipped with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles. The accusation underscores an ongoing, high-stakes shadow war accompanying the conventional conflict.
The FSB announced the alleged operation on Tuesday, November 11, 2025. It reportedly tried to recruit Russian pilots with promises of millions of dollars and Western citizenship, intending pilots to fly the advanced aircraft to a NATO base in Romania. This incident, if true, marks a significant escalation in intelligence efforts to gain access to sensitive military technology and highlights the persistent threat of defection within Russia’s armed forces.
The FSB said the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, with unspecified “British supervisors,” orchestrated the scheme. It aimed to target the MiG-31, a high-altitude supersonic interceptor, and its formidable Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched missiles. The Russian intelligence agency asserted Kyiv sought to entice Russian pilots with a $3 million reward and a pathway to citizenship in an undisclosed Western nation. The FSB claimed the stolen jet was reportedly headed to a NATO base in Constanta, Romania, on the Black Sea coast. There, the agency claimed, air defense systems would have shot down the aircraft.
In response to the alleged plot, the FSB said Russian military forces struck a Ukrainian military intelligence center and an airfield in the Kyiv and Khmelnitsky regions. The agency also released a video, aired by Russian state media. It purportedly shows a concealed Russian soldier describing a recruitment email he received from a Ukrainian intelligence agent for the defection scheme. These claims, while unverified by independent sources, align with a broader pattern of information warfare between the warring nations.
The alleged hijacking attempt mirrors a successful defection in August 2023, when Russian military helicopter pilot Maxim Kuzminov flew his Mi-8 aircraft into Ukraine. Kyiv’s security services organized that operation, which resulted in the deaths of the helicopter’s unwitting crew members, according to both Ukrainian and Russian accounts. Kuzminov was found dead in Spain in February 2024. His death has fueled accusations and counter-accusations between Moscow and Kyiv regarding defector safety.
The continuous claims of thwarted military defections and retaliatory strikes underscore the conflict’s complex and clandestine nature. Intelligence operations play a critical role alongside conventional warfare.