Media: Kinzhal missiles strike Ukraine after FSB foils attempted MiG-31 provocation

On November 11, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had thwarted an operation by Ukraine’s military intelligence, allegedly supported by the United Kingdom, to hijack a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, the FSB described the mission as a planned provocation targeting NATO’s largest airbase in southeastern Europe.

According to the FSB, Ukrainian military intelligence officers attempted to recruit Russian pilots to carry out the hijacking, offering a payment of $3 million.

The plan, the agency claimed, involved flying the MiG-31 armed with a Kinzhal missile toward the Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base near Constanța, Romania, where it would then be shot down by air defence systems. Russia characterised the scheme as an attempt to stage a “large-scale provocation” against NATO.

“By the measures taken, the plans of the Ukrainian and British intelligence services to organise such a provocation have been thwarted,” the FSB said.

In response to the alleged hijacking attempt, Russia’s Air and Space Forces carried out retaliatory strikes using Kinzhal hypersonic missiles on Ukrainian military targets. According to the FSB’s Public Relations Centre:

• The Main Centre for Electronic Intelligence of the Ukrainian Defence Ministry (GUR) near Kyiv was targeted.

• The Starokonstantinov airfield in the Khmelnytskyi region was also struck, reportedly housing F-16 fighter jets.

The Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, cited by Russian authorities as the target of the planned provocation, is located near Constanța in southeastern Romania. The base is undergoing a major expansion to become NATO’s largest military facility in Europe. The project includes the enlargement of airfield infrastructure, construction of new runways and hangars, and accommodation for thousands of U.S. military personnel and their families.

By Tamilla Hasanova