Did the Russians just thwart a major false-flag attack designed to kickstart World War III?

According to Russian media, a British-led operation sought to hijack an advanced Russian jet fighter armed with a hypersonic missile and possibly use it for an attack on a NATO-member state in Europe. 

There’s an interesting story being reported in the Russian media today that, if true, shows just how close we are to World War III. Just one false-flag attack away.

On Tuesday morning, November 11, the Russian Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, said it thwarted an operation by Ukrainian military intelligence and its UK handlers to hijack a Russian MiG-31 fighter jet armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

The Russian news outlet Sputnik International cited a Russian military expert for the following report:

First and foremost, Ukrainian intelligence planned to capture Russia’s advanced weapon system, military expert Sergey Gorbachev told Sputnik, commenting on the botched Ukraine-UK attempt to hijack a Russian MiG-31 jet armed with a Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

He didn’t rule out that the perpetrators planned a provocation involving the MiG-31 to simulate an attack on Romania or Bulgaria, both NATO members. Gorbachev also pointed to a possible media effect related to the scenario of a Russian pilot becoming a traitor and being used for nefarious purposes.

The military expert further noted, “So, it was a multifaceted operation that could have caused not only reputational damage to Russia, but also serious security consequences. A provocation imitating a combat strike against a NATO country would have obvious and easily predictable repercussions.”

He added that it is only natural to suspect that the UK’s MI6 was involved in the operation, as the Ukrainians “could not have planned, organized, and carried out such an operation all by themselves.”

Of course, the fact that it failed suggests that maybe the Ukrainians did try to pull this off by themselves. No further details were given. But either way, UK involvement or no UK involvement, the ramifications for the world would have been catastrophic if it had been carried out successfully.

Another political analyst, Vasily Belozerov, told Sputnik that the goal of the operation was multi-faceted. First, it would have made Russia look weak and vulnerable, while making Ukraine look like it is still capable of countering Russia. And, lastly, the operation, if successful, would have been meant to sow misinformation among the Russian people by getting them to believe there are unreliable Russian servicemen cooperating with the enemy.

“All these purposes are provocative, and any reasonable person understands that each and every Russian serviceman remains loyal to the oath of allegiance,” the analyst emphasized.

When it comes to Ukrainian intelligence, it is “not independent and operates under political directives from abroad, following instructions that come from outside Ukraine as part of the West’s confrontation with Russia,” Belozerov concluded.

©2025 Leo Hohmann. All rights reserved.

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