Overview
- Russia’s FSB said Ukrainian military intelligence, allegedly supervised from the UK, sought to pay Russian pilots $3 million to divert a MiG-31 carrying a Kinzhal hypersonic missile.
- The agency said the plan envisioned sending the armed jet toward the area of NATO’s base in Constanta, Romania, to prompt an air-defense shootdown as a staged incident.
- The accusations were presented through official statements without independent verification offered in the reports.
- Separately, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Venezuela has not requested Russian military assistance, pointing to a strategic partnership treaty signed in May that is in final ratification.
- Lavrov criticized U.S. actions off Venezuela under a counternarcotics pretext, and Russia’s State Duma issued a declaration condemning the U.S. military presence near Venezuelan waters.