The Public Relations Center of the Federal Security Service (FSB) of the Russian Federation published a video with a Russian military pilot who said that he was even threatened and bribed to set fire to a Russian plane , quoted by News.bg.
He received the proposal, and then the threats on the social network "Telegram", and the threats came very quickly.
"He offered to hijack a fighter plane on the territory of Ukraine, but not just any plane, but a bomber with long-range missiles and nuclear weapons, says the man, who introduced himself for a military pilot.
The FSB press release also states that "special services of NATO countries" participated in the preparation and conduct of the "operation to hijack a Tu-22M3 strategic bomber of the Russian Aerospace Forces abroad".
According to a press release from the intelligence service, Ukrainian intelligence wanted to recruit the pilot "for money and to grant Italian citizenship".
The story has not been commented so far by the Ukrainian military and intelligence.
Actually, the Ukrainian services have already conducted one such operation when they managed to convince the pilot Maxim Kuzmin to hijack the Mi-8 helicopter entrusted to him in August 2023. According to the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine (GUR), the Russian helicopter was carrying parts for Russian fighters - Su-27, Su-30 SM.
The incident was then met with complete silence by the Russian security services and the Russian military. However, in February 2024, the same pilot Massim Kuzmin was found dead in Spain, and the signature of his murder led to an operation by the Russian secret services. However, there is no official information about the results of the investigation.