The United States condemned Russia for bringing down a U.S. spy drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday. This incident has highlighted the possibility that the war on Ukraine could lead to a direct altercation between Moscow and Washington.
According to the U.S. military, two Russian Su-27 jets were responsible for what was deemed by the U.S. a reckless intercept of the MQ-9 “Reaper” drone that was flying in international airspace. One of the two jets collided with the drone causing it to fall to the sea at 7:03 a.m. (0603 GT).
Prior to the collision, the Russian fighter jets had attempted to damage or blind the drone by dumping fuel on it.
The Pentagon revealed that following the fighter jet’s attempts that resulted in the unmanned drone needing to take extreme maneuvers, they decided that due to the damage that the drone had endured the best option was to let it crash after it was struck by a Russian jet. Brigadier General Pat Ryder revealed to reporters that the damage had essentially made the drone unflyable.
According to Ryder, the crashed drone has not been recovered by Russia after it fell in the Black sea.
This is the first incident that directly involves Russia and the U.S. since the invasion of Ukraine from Russia a little over a year ago. The Black Sea is a shared border with many countries including Russia and Ukraine.
The U.S. has revealed that following the incident they called on the Russian ambassador to meet with them and discuss the incident. White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby, revealed that the U.S. had been “flying over that airspace consistently now for a year” and that they had no plans of stopping.
