Former intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyi, who in 2022 participated in the failed operation to hijack a Russian plane, informed that permission for this operation was given by the then Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
He said this in an interview with "Ukraiinska Pravda" [“Ukrainian Truth”].
He said that the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) turned to intelligence, which at that time had already gathered information about the readiness of one of the Russian pilots to fly the plane to Ukraine.
Chervinskyi explained this by the fact that SBU could not assess the plane themselves, create a corridor in the airspace, ensure its safe flight, escort and landing.
"I reported to my authority. They reported to Zaluzhnyi. Zaluzhnyi gave the sanction. The first sanction was verbal, so that we could find out the possibility of conducting such an operation," said the ex-intelligence officer.
After that, according to Chervinskyi, the commander of the Air Force was informed about the plans. He redirected them to a lower-ranking commander, who assigned an employee to check the Russian pilot.
"At this stage, we once again informed Zaluzhnyi that the Air Force confirmed the identity of the pilot and that if this is even a game, then he will not be able to penetrate our territory in any way, because in the air corridor that we will provide him, he will be shot down in any case. Zaluzhnyi gave the sanction that he agrees to conduct the operation," says the ex-intelligence officer.
Chervinskyi says that there was written permission for the operation from Zaluzhnyi. According to him, the document was destroyed when part of it was disbanded.
However, when Zaluzhnyi signed this sanction, he simultaneously wrote a letter to SBU in which he asked to second their employee to join the group and perform his part of the work. This letter still exists and is in the file, says Chervinskyi.
The ex-intelligence officer said that Zaluzhnyiʼs letter was "hidden", and he was accused of having arbitrarily decided to send people to the “Kanatove” airfield under the guise of training. Chervinskyi also says that in his case, the participation of an SBU employee in the organization of a special operation is kept silent.
The case of the attack on the airfield "Kanatove"
On July 23, 2022, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the “Kanatove” airfield, killing the commander of the military unit, wounding 17 defenders, and destroying two Ukrainian fighter jets.
The law enforcement officers believe that the attack occurred due to a failed operation to recruit a Russian pilot who was supposed to hijack a plane for Ukraine. The main figure in this case is ex-intelligence officer Roman Chervinskyi, who participated in the operation.
According to the investigation, the operation was carried out without the consent of state bodies and special services. SBU claims that such actions provided Russia with data on the location of pilots and Ukrainian aircraft at the “Kanatove” airfield in the Kirovohrad region.
In April 2023, Chervinskyi was suspected in this case. He was arrested the same month. He was released from custody only after Chervinskyʼs preventive measure was changed on July 15, allowing him to post bail. However, on July 18, he was sent under house arrest already in another case.