Russian fighter jet 'downs' US drone

Kyiv, March 14

A Russian fighter jet on Tuesday struck the propeller of a US surveillance drone over the Black Sea, causing American forces to bring down the unmanned aerial vehicle in international waters, the US military said, an incident that highlighted soaring US-Russian tensions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.

US State Dept: Summoning Russian envoy, have briefed allies over drone crash

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said US President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan. The US European Command said in a statement that two Russian Su-27 fighter jets “conducted an unsafe and unprofessional intercept” of a US MQ-9 drone that was operating within international airspace over the Black Sea.

It said one of the Russian fighters “struck the propeller of the MQ-9, forcing the US to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters”. Prior to that, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 several times before the collision in “a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner”, the US European Command said in a statement from Stuttgart, Germany. “This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” it added.

Russia’s defence ministry said on Tuesday that its fighter jets did not come into contact with the US drone that crashed into the Black Sea earlier, claiming instead that the drone crashed due to “sharp manoeuvring”. “The Russian fighters did not use their onboard weapons, did not come into contact with the UAV and returned safely to their home airfield,” news agency Reuters said citing the Russian defence ministry. News agency PTI, however, quoted the Russian Defence Ministry as saying that “the US drone sharply manoeuvred and crashed after an encounter with Russian jets near Russia’s border”.

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Army General Christopher Cavoli, briefed NATO allies about the incident. The White House and the Pentagon strongly condemned it and warned of the risk of escalation.

It was the first such episode since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine just over a year ago. The Black Sea is bordered by Russia and Ukraine, among other countries. State Department later said it had summoned the Russian ambassador to discuss the downing of the drone.

“We have been flying over that airspace consistently now for a year ... and we're going to continue to do that,” said White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

The incident occurred as Russian troops pushed forward in waves along the frontline in eastern Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin reaffirmed his view that Russia’s very existence as a state was at stake in the war. Moscow has repeatedly voiced concern over US intelligence flights close to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014. — Agencies

MQ-9 intercepted over black sea

• The US claimed two Russian Su-27 jets ‘conducted an unsafe and unprofessional intercept’ of a US MQ-9 drone
• It said one of the Russian jets struck the propeller of the MQ-9, forcing the US to bring it down
• Russia claimed the US drone sharply manoeuvred & crashed after encounter with its jets

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.

#Russia #Ukraine