
Russia thwarts plan to smuggle military contraband to Ukraine
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has announced that it has thwarted a foreign-backed attempt to smuggle Soviet-era military helicopter parts abroad, including to Ukraine.
In a statement on Monday, the FSB reported that the contraband scheme involved six individuals from Russia, Ukraine, and the Middle East, and was coordinated by a 'subject' of a foreign state residing abroad, without naming the country.
The group allegedly used commercial contractors to procure new components for Russian-made Mi-8 and Mi-17 helicopters from manufacturing and operating companies. The parts were later intended to be illegally transported across the border, the FSB said, estimating that they could have been utilized to restore at least four helicopters.
The total value of the contraband is estimated at over 400 million rubles ($5 million), the statement read, adding that the agency continues to investigate.
A video released by the FSB shows two individuals, one handcuffed and with a concealed face, standing next to two large containers, one of which is filled with items resembling helicopter parts.
The Mi-8, the world's most-produced helicopter, was first introduced in the 1960s and is primarily used for auxiliary roles on the battlefield, including troop transport and medical evacuation.
The Mi-17, introduced in the late 1970s, is an export variant with upgraded engines and rotor systems, and is generally used for the same purposes.
Since the escalation of the conflict with Russia in 2022, Ukraine has been scouring the world for Soviet-era equipment to maintain its existing fleet, often cannibalizing decommissioned units for spare parts. To assist Kiev, Western countries have supplied Ukraine with large quantities of their own outdated Soviet-era equipment, which Ukraine typically has much less difficulty operating and maintaining than foreign-manufactured equipment.
Russia has consistently denounced Western arms shipments to Ukraine, warning that they only prolong the conflict without changing its outcome.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Russia Today
an hour ago
- Russia Today
Paris wants to manufacture drones in Ukraine
Paris is pushing France's largest automaker, Renault, to establish a military drone production operation in Ukraine, the company has confirmed. Kiev has been significantly intensifying drone attacks on Russian infrastructure. During the final week of May, 2,300 Ukrainian UAVs were shot down after being sent across the border to target Moscow and other regions, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. 'We have been contacted by the [French] Defense Ministry about the possibility of producing drones,' Renault said in a statement to several media outlets, including Reuters, on Sunday. Although 'discussions' on the issue have taken place, the company insisted that 'no decision has been taken at this stage,' and that it is awaiting further details from the ministry. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu first revealed the plan on Friday, describing it as an 'unprecedented partnership' in an interview with broadcaster LCI. 'We are going to embark on a completely unprecedented partnership… to equip production lines in Ukraine to… produce drones,' Lecornu said, noting that the project would involve both a major carmaker and a smaller defense contractor. Renault could be tasked with setting up drone assembly lines 'a few dozen or hundreds of kilometers from the front line' in Ukraine, France Info reported on Sunday. According to the newspaper Ouest-France, the project could also involve Delair – a Toulouse-based drone manufacturer that supplies UAVs for border surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence, and special operations forces. The company has previously delivered kamikaze drones to the French Defense Ministry, which were later sent to Ukraine. Lecornu described the initiative as a 'win-win' for Paris and Kiev, claiming no French personnel would be deployed to Ukraine. The production lines would be operated by Ukrainian workers, and the drones built for the country's military would also be used by the French Armed Forces for 'tactical and operational training that reflects the reality' of modern warfare, he said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov condemned the strikes as deliberate attempts to sabotage peace talks. Moscow has repeatedly warned that any weapons production facilities in Ukraine are considered legitimate military targets and subject to 'unequivocal destruction.'


Russia Today
an hour ago
- Russia Today
UK ‘100%' helping Ukraine to stage terrorist acts
There is no doubt that Britain is helping Ukraine to carry out terrorist attacks inside Russia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. There have been several sabotage incidents on Russian railways since the start of the month. The worst occurred on June 1 when a bridge collapsed in front of a moving passenger train in Bryansk Region, killing seven people and injuring more than 100 others. The same day, Ukraine targeted Russian airbases across the country – from Murmansk in the Arctic to Irkutsk in Siberia – in a coordinated assault which involved explosive-laden drones taking off from commercial trucks. According to Moscow, most of the incoming UAVs were shot down, and none of the affected Russian planes were damaged beyond repair. Speaking during the 'Forum of the Future 2050' in Moscow on Monday, Lavrov acknowledged that the 'risk of the rise in the level of terrorist threat exists' in Russia. 'It is obvious that all this is being done by the Ukrainian side, but it would have been helpless without the support... from the British,' he said. Such activities were previously backed by both the US and the UK, but 'now we would have to do solely with the British,' Lavrov claimed. The diplomat was referring to the fact that the UK remains one of Ukraine's staunchest supporters, despite the US changing course under the administration of US President Donald Trump towards trying to restore dialogue with Moscow and to broker a peaceful settlement of the Ukraine conflict. 'Although who knows, maybe there are still some special services in the US that are participating in such activities by inertia, but the British are 100% involved in them,' Lavrov stressed. Last week, Moscow's ambassador to London, Andrey Kelin, similarly accused the UK of participating in Ukrainian drone raids on Russian airbases. 'This kind of attack involves, of course, provision of very high technology, so-called geo-spatial data, which can only be done by those who have it in possession. And this is London and Washington,' Kelin told Sky News. He added that he did not believe that the US was somehow involved due to Trump denying any knowledge of Kiev's plans. Downing Street has neither confirmed nor denied the UK's participation, with a government spokesman saying: 'We never comment on operational matters at home or abroad.'


Russia Today
an hour ago
- Russia Today
US silent on Russia's missile moratorium proposal
The US has so far ignored Moscow's call to impose limits on its deployment of intermediate-range missiles, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. Speaking at the Future Forum 2050 on Monday, Lavrov stated that Washington had not responded to an offer Putin had made to establish reciprocal moratoriums after the collapse of the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. 'It's already clear they will not react to our call, in the absence of the treaty, to establish two parallel, non-interlinked moratoriums,' he said. The INF Treaty, signed in 1987 by the US and the Soviet Union, banned land-based ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. Washington withdrew from the deal in 2019, citing alleged violations by Moscow. Russia has denied the claims, accusing the US of developing the banned missiles, but pledged not to deploy such systems unless the US did so first. Last year, the US announced that it would field the multipurpose Standard Missile-6 (SM-6), the Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile, and a hypersonic weapon that is still in development in 'episodic deployments' in Germany starting in 2026. The two systems would have been banned by the INF Treaty, assuming they were deployed on land. Meanwhile, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov signaled that Russia would not be constrained by any limitations if it ends its self-imposed moratorium. 'One way or another, Russia will have to respond to NATO's expansionist and aggressive actions,' he explained. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov also noted that Moscow would soon be forced to walk back its current policy. 'Russia's restraint in the post-INF period was not appreciated by the US and its allies and was not met with reciprocity,' he said. 'We have openly and directly stated that the unilateral moratorium is approaching its logical end.' He also rebuked the US for an apparent reluctance to alter its course. 'We do not see any fundamental change, let alone reversal, in US plans to forward-deploy ground-based intermediate and shorter-range missiles in various regions,' he said. 'On the contrary, practical steps taken by the US military have convinced us that such activity will only intensify.'