“Bird in the Nest”: a unique operation to recruit a Ukrainian Armed Forces pilot has been completed

General Popov told what military secrets a pilot who came over to our side might possess

The Ukrainian pilot, who from the very beginning of the Northern Military District was on our side and all this time passed on valuable information to us , managed to move to Russian territory. The unique operation became known on Saturday, November 18. Honored Military Pilot of the Russian Federation, retired Major General Vladimir Popov, in a conversation with MK, told us what information a former pilot of the Armed Forces of Ukraine could have conveyed to us.

Photo: Wikipedia.org.

On the morning of November 18, it became known about the successful completion of a unique operation to move the pilot-agent from the territory of Ukraine, who had been passing on the most valuable information to us all these year and a half. Military bloggers spoke about the operation, the details of which are still kept secret.

“The Ukrainian pilot, who from the very beginning of the war came over to our side and helped us with information and more, is now in Russia. We are waiting for an interview with him,” Daniil Bessonov wrote on his channel.

“I, as the founder of this action, will call what happened “Bird in the Nest.” Both pathetic and stupid. But with what charm,” wrote military blogger and analyst Kirill Fedorov, who participated in the operation.

He promised to soon publish an interview with a former pilot of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Military expert, honored Russian pilot Vladimir Popov, in a conversation with MK, told what kind of information a serviceman who came over to our side might have.

— A pilot can know about the location of the airfields where he served — in a regiment, division, brigade. He may know about the location of the alternate airfields to which he flew, their condition, and the amount of aircraft available there.

In addition, information may be available about the protective equipment that is used to cover airplanes and helicopters, what radio equipment works and what controls it was directly connected to when performing official tasks. In other words, with whom and what issues did he resolve, when he flew, how was radio communication and navigation established, where did combat missions come from.

In addition, an important aspect, the military expert believes, is information about the psycho-emotional state of the personnel those units with which the pilot had the opportunity to communicate.

— It would seem that there is nothing special about this, but when intelligence agencies receive such information, then, analyzing everything as a whole, we can draw very important conclusions. Perhaps this information will be important for the current moment, or maybe it will be useful in the future — say, in a few years. It all depends on what position the pilot held. If he was one of the leaders of, say, at least a squadron or a command post, then, of course, this data immediately increases in importance. If it was an ordinary pilot, of course, he had limited information.

The military expert also explained how the pilot could have been organized to move from behind enemy lines. Vladimir Popov doubted that the former Ukrainian serviceman would be able to fly to our territory on his plane.

“If there had been a combat mission, it would have become known immediately,” says Vladimir Popov. — In this case, I think the transition was carried out through other channels. Perhaps he made the transition while on vacation or time off. Or perhaps during a business trip, say, for the purpose of reconnaissance of the area.

I do not exclude that the transition could be carried out through third countries, such as Belarus. For example, he could go to Poland for retraining and cross the border from there. The military expert also does not rule out that our special forces and reconnaissance groups helped the pilot make the transition.

— He could penetrate into a certain square, an area of ​​the terrain, where our people met him and escorted him to a safe place. Probably, there is no need to disclose all these moves, because these channels will be useful to other Ukrainian military personnel more than once. Those who consider themselves deceived or disagree with the Kyiv regime and want to come to our side.