Operation Synytsia () was an operation conducted by

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

's Main Directorate of Intelligence to facilitate the

defection In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

Mi-8 The Mil Mi-8 (, NATO reporting name: Hip) is a medium twin-turbine helicopter, originally designed by the Soviet Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (TsAGI) in the 1960s and introduced into the Soviet Air Force in 1968. Russian production of t ...

helicopter pilot Maxim Kuzminov (). After previously arranging his defection and the simultaneous escape of his family, on 9 August 2023, Kuzminov turned off radio communications and landed near , where Ukrainian forces received him. On 5 September 2023, Ukrainian intelligence representative

Andriy Yusov Andriy Volodymyrovych Yusov (; born 1983) is a Ukrainian activist and politician. Since 2022, he has served as the press representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Biography On 17 September 2 ...

announced that Maxim Kuzminov would receive a reward of $500,000 paid in the

Ukrainian hryvnia The ( ; , ''hrn''; sign: ₴; code: UAH) has been the national currency of Ukraine since 2 September 1996. The hryvnia is divided into 100 kopiykas (). It is named after a measure of weight used in Kievan Rus'. Etymology The currency of Kie ...

. Yusov additionally promised that Kuzminov and his family would receive unspecified security guarantees, as well as eventual Ukrainian citizenship. On 13 February 2024, Kuzminov was found dead with bullet wounds in

Villajoyosa Villajoyosa (), in Valencian: (), meaning "The Joyful Town", and officially / , is a coastal town and municipality in the south of the Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea. It is the historic and administrative capital of Mar ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

Background

Maxim Kuzminov (19 June 1995 – February 2024), born in

Arsenyev Arsenyev () is a town in Primorsky Krai, Russia, located about northeast of Vladivostok, the administrative center of the krai. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 56,750. It was known as ''Semyonovka'' until 1952. History The hi ...

, was a graduate of the Syzran Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots. During the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, he served in the Russian Armed Forces as a pilot-navigator in the , part of the 11th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Eastern Military District. Kuzminov was not part of the initial invasion force, remaining with his unit in the

Amur region Amur Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya rivers in the Russian Far East. The oblast borders Heilongjiang province of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the south. The administrat ...

. During this time, he "started leafing through textbooks and watching bloggers" to learn more about Russian-Ukrainian relations and the

Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

which had been ongoing since 2014. His studies led him to sympathize with Ukraine. However, he was still contracted as a pilot, and in October 2022 was deployed to the occupied territories of Ukraine – first to

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

, and then to

Berdiansk Berdiansk or Berdyansk (, ; , ) is a port city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, which is connected to the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Berdiansk Raion. The c ...

. As the Mi-8 is a

transport helicopter A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to support military operations by airlifting troops and military equipment. Transport aircraft are crucial to maintaining supply ...

, he did not participate in any combat actions. Kuzminov wanted to resign his commission, but was unable to, stating that pilots who wanted to resign were threatened with being sent to the front as

infantrymen Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

Operation

In early 2023, Kuzminov established contact with Ukrainian intelligence, and formulated an escape plan. The operation lasted more than six months and culminated with the flight on 9 August 2023. On this day, Kuzminov was transporting equipment and spare parts for the

Sukhoi Su-27 The Sukhoi Su-27 (; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet Union, Soviet-origin twinjet, twin-engine supersonic Supermaneuverability, supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the lar ...

, Su-30SM and

Su-35 The Sukhoi Su-35 (-35; NATO reporting name: Flanker-E/M, occasionally nicknamed "Super Flanker") is the designation for two improved derivatives of the Su-27 air-defence fighter. They are single-seat, twin-engine, supermaneuverable, 4.5 ge ...

Russian fighter aircraft. Kuzminov decided to make his move at this time due to the flight plan's proximity to Ukrainian territory, and the valuable cargo he was carrying. His intentions were quickly realized, and shortly before crossing the border, he started receiving small arms fire from Russian infantry: Accompanying Kuzminov were an onboard technician and a

navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...

, who were not aware of his plan to defect. Kuzminov later explained that although the crew began to get nervous and behave aggressively, they could not stop him, since Kuzminov was the only one who knew how to fly and land the helicopter. Kuzminov tried unsuccessfully to convince them to surrender. The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine,

Kyrylo Budanov Kyrylo Oleksiiovych Budanov (; born 4 January 1986) is a Ukrainian military leader who has served as the chief of the Main Directorate of Intelligence (Ukraine), Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine since Augu ...

, said the other crew members tried to escape when the helicopter landed, but were spotted and killed by Ukrainian soldiers. On the other hand, Russian sources said that the positions of the gunshot wounds showed that both of the other crew members where shot from close range, suggesting they were already killed by Kuzminov before the helicopter landed. Ukrainian intelligence representative said that in addition to the helicopter, which was manufactured in 2016, and the cargo of fighter jet parts, the

Ukrainian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) are the Military, military forces of Ukraine. All military and security forces, including the Armed Forces, are under the command of the president of Ukraine and subject to oversight by a permanent Verkhovna Rad ...

received "invaluable information" about Russian aviation which could be used to enhance Ukrainian

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface (Submarine#Armament, submarine-lau ...

systems.

Coverage

On 23 August, two weeks after the incident, the

Russian Ministry of Defense The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (; MOD) is the governing body of the Russian Armed Forces. The President of Russia is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, Commander-in-Chief of the forces ...

-affiliated

Telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

channel ''Fighterbomber'' reported that a pilot had "gotten lost" and landed in Ukrainian territory for unknown reasons. Several hours later Kyrylo Budanov confirmed that the pilot had defected to Ukraine. On 4 September, the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate released a documentary film titled ''Down Russian Pilots'', in which more details of the operation were revealed, including the identity of the pilot. The film compared the operation with Operation Diamond (Penicillin), which was carried out by the Israeli

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

in 1966, convincing an

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i pilot to steal an

MiG-21 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 (; NATO reporting name: Fishbed) is a supersonic jet aircraft, jet fighter aircraft, fighter and interceptor aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan, Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB, Design Bureau in the Soviet Union. Its nicknames in ...

, then the most modern aircraft in the Soviet arsenal. Kyrylo Budanov said that the operation represents "the first successful one in the entire history of Ukraine".

Aftermath

In September, after lengthy negotiations, Russia managed to obtain the bodies of the crew members killed as a result of Kuzminov's actions. Both crew members, Khushbakht Tursunov and Nikita Kiryanov, received posthumous Orders of Courage. In February 2024, a man's body, which was found in an underground parking garage in

, Province of Alicante, Spain "riddled with bullet holes and run over by a car", was confirmed to be Kuzminov. Western analysts considered it likely that he was assassinated by the Russian SVR. At the time of his death, Kuzminov was living under the assumed identity ''Igor Shevchenko''. The newspaper ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

'' reported that the Spanish authorities had provided Kuzminov with forged documents, but did not provide guarantees of protection. Spanish authorities believe that Kuzminov was exposed when he made a call to an ex-girlfriend inviting her to Alicante, a favourite with Russians and Ukrainians who have made their homes on the

Costa Blanca The Costa Blanca (, ; , literally meaning "White Coast") is over of Mediterranean coastline in the Alicante province of the Valencian Community, on the southeastern coast of Spain. It extends from the town of Dénia in the north, beyond which ...

References

External links