Ukrainian intelligence officers had been preparing the flight of the Russian Mi-8 to Ukraine for six months.

Officer Artem Shevchenko, author of the documentary series “Military Intelligence of Ukraine,” said that the operation was called Synytsia (Titmouse – Ed.).

One of these two officers from the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine is the developer and implementer of this unique six-month operation.

Operation Synytsia ended on August 9, 2023, with the flight of an Mi-8AMTSh helicopter to the Ukraine-controlled territory.

The helicopter has a tail number of 62 and belonged to the Russian 319th Independent Helicopter Regiment, based at Chernihivka airfield in Primorsky Krai.

“The crew commander, a young officer, understood from the very beginning the criminality and unjustness of the war unleashed by his aggressive state,” says Artem Shevchenko.

The Russian officer believed the Ukrainian intelligence officers and successfully flew to the territory of Ukraine.

The Defence Intelligence of Ukraine operation itself, codenamed Synytsia (Titmouse – Ed.), was very similar to Operation Diamond, which was conducted in 1966 by the Israeli Mossad, which convinced an Iraqi pilot to hijack the then-modern Soviet MiG-21.

“We were able to find the right approach to the man, we were able to create conditions to take the whole family out unnoticed, and eventually create conditions so that he could hijack this aircraft with the crew who was unaware of what was happening. When they realized where they had landed, they tried to escape. Unfortunately, they were destroyed, we would have liked to (capture) them alive, but we have what we have,” said Kyrylo Budanov, the Chief of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine, in an interview with a Radio Svoboda correspondent.

This unique story of a Russian pilot will be shown on Sunday, September 3, in the documentary “Downed Russian pilots of the series ‘Military Intelligence of Ukraine’” on a TV marathon.

Then on September 7, the professional holiday of military intelligence, it will appear on the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine’s YouTube.

On August 23 it was officially reported that a Russian pilot had handed over an Mi-8 helicopter with spare parts for fighter jets to the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.