Russia Says It Foiled Ukrainian-British Plot to Steal a Mig-31 Jet, State Media Reports

A Russian MiG-31 fighter jet equipped with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile flies over Red Square during a rehearsal for a flypast, part of a military parade marking the anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in central Moscow, Russia, on May 7, 2022. Maxim Shemetov/Reuters

MOSCOW—Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had foiled a plot by Ukrainian and British spies to tempt Russian pilots to steal a MiG-31 jet armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile for $3 million, state media reported on Tuesday.

The RIA news agency cited the FSB as saying that the hijacked jet was to be flown toward a NATO air base in the Romanian city of Constanta, where it could have been shot down by air defences, the agency reported.