The FSB stated that Ukrainian operatives offered $3 million to Russian pilots to carry out the hijacking, claiming that the plan was coordinated “with the assistance of British intelligence handlers”. According to the agency, the aim was to fly the jet to a NATO base near Constanta in Romania, where it would be destroyed by air defences.
The Russian Telegram channel Mash reported that a Ukrainian intelligence officer initially contacted potential participants while posing as a journalist from the investigative outlet Bellingcat. The channel also claimed those targeted were promised European passports in exchange for completing the operation, which had reportedly been in preparation for about a year and was scheduled for 4 November.
After an air force captain refused to cooperate, Ukrainian intelligence allegedly tried to recruit a navigator, instructing him to poison the captain using a toxin placed in his oxygen mask, according to the FSB. In retaliation for the alleged plot, the Russian Aerospace Forces launched Kinzhal missile strikes early Monday on what it called the main centre of GUR’s electronic intelligence in the Kyiv region and the Starokostyantyniv airfield, according to BBC News Russian.
