The FSB reported that the Ukrainian special services were “planning an operation to hijack” the Tu-22M3 long-range strategic bomber. The department's press release is quoted by Kommersant and RIA Novosti.
The intelligence service claims that it “stopped an attempt” to steal. According to the department, Ukrainian intelligence was planning an operation “with the support of NATO countries”: it was going to recruit a Russian military pilot, promising him a reward and Italian citizenship for “flying and landing a missile carrier” in Ukraine.
The FSB reported that during During the “operational game”, the Russian armed forces attacked the Ozernoye airfield, which is located near Zhitomir.
The video published by the department shows screenshots of the alleged correspondence between a Russian military officer and a representative of the Ukrainian special services and an Italian passport in the name of Elena Golub.
The recording contains a comment from the alleged pilot, who is standing near the plane with his face covered, his voice is also changed: “Some unknown person wrote to me in a telegram. No morals, no ethics. I immediately started with threats against my close relatives. He demanded that aircraft be set on fire. He says: “Give me data on the aircraft, tail numbers, technical condition, schedule of regulations.” <…> Pavlo introduced himself and offered to hijack a combat aircraft into Ukrainian territory. But not just an airplane, but a long-range missile-carrying bomber, a carrier of nuclear weapons.”
The man added that he “went to the command and told everything.” Also in the recording, an unknown person puts stacks of dollars on the table, while the FSB did not report that the pilot received the money.
In April last year, a court in Kyiv arrested former employee of the State Intelligence Service of Ukraine Roman Chervinsky, who is accused of abuse powers. According to investigators, in July 2022, without the approval of the command, he tried to persuade a Russian pilot to defect to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and gave out the coordinates of the Kanatovo airfield in the Kirovograd region. It was struck, as a result of which the commander of the Ukrainian military unit was killed and 17 other military personnel were injured.
The FSB claimed that the Russian military immediately reported the proposal to “hijack” the planes, and the department began an “operational game” . Security forces named journalist Hristo Grozev among those involved in the operation. According to the FSB, he hired couriers who handed over the money for the video to one of the military men. Grozev said that he did not participate in the operation of the Ukrainian special service, but together with the Bellingcat team he was conducting an investigation into the attempts of the FSB and the GUR to deceive each other.
In November 2023, the Washington Post and Spiegel reported that Chervinsky was involved in the explosions at the Nord Stream gas pipeline that occurred in September 2022. The publications wrote that the colonel was involved in coordinating the explosions, and there were six people under his command. Chervinsky himself denies this.