SSU disrupts preparations for missile strikes on F-16

28 January, 2025 An F-16 fighter jet of the Ukrainian Air Force. August 2024. Photo credits: Office of the President of Ukraine

Counterintelligence of the Security Service of Ukraine detained agents of the Russian special services who were preparing a missile strike on the airfields of Ukrainian F-16 fighter jets. The agency's press service reported on this. The military counterintelligence neutralized an agent group of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), which was hunting for fighter jets and combat helicopters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

As a result of the special operation, two people who were photographing the takeoff of a Ukrainian F-16 were caught in the act near one of Ukraine's military airfields. The agents were two residents of Kremenchuk, aged 21 and 22, recruited by a hostile intelligence service.

Detained FSB agent, January 2025. Photo credits: SSU Counterintelligence

Detained FSB agent, January 2025.

Photo credits: SSU Counterintelligence

Hunt for the F-16s

The traitors' task was to collect the exact coordinates of the main and reserve airfields and aviation infrastructure. Later, this data was to be used to launch missile strikes. In addition to searching for geolocations, they installed video surveillance cameras to monitor Ukrainian aviation activity.

The FSB supervisor also demanded reports in text format and photos of the types of equipment found at each site. To fulfill this instruction, the young men intended to travel by bus to five regions of Ukraine. They planned to rent housing near each of the potential sites to spy and film the target for several days.

SSU officers exposed both agents at the initial stage of hostile reconnaissance, documented their fruitless visits to several regions, and detained them while they were taking pictures of F-16 fighter jets. For the Russian Federation, Western-style fighters in service with the Ukrainian military are a priority target both for propaganda reasons and because of the importance of the aircraft in Ukraine's air defense system. Currently, the Air Force actively uses the F-16s to intercept Russian cruise missiles, which are being launched in large numbers at strategic targets in the country.

Earlier this month, one of the aircraft shot down six cruise missiles during a flight.

This happened during a massive Russian missile and drone attack on Ukraine on December 13, 2024.

At the time, there were nearly 200 enemy drones, Kinzhal air defense missiles, ballistic missiles, and 94 air-, sea-, and land-launched cruise missiles in the Ukrainian sky.