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A Russian fighter jet struck the propeller of a US surveillance drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday in a “brazen violation of international law,” prompting American forces to shoot down the unmanned aerial vehicle, the US said.
But Moscow said the drone maneuvered too much and crashed into the water after meeting with its jet – which scrambled to intercept it near Crimea – insisting its warplanes did not fire weapons or hit the drone.
“The US drone went into an uncontrollable flight with a loss of altitude” and fell into the water, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The incident raised tensions over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden was briefed on the meeting by national security adviser Jake Sullivan, according to White House national security spokesman John Kirby. He added that State Department officials would speak directly with their Russian counterparts and “express our concerns about this unsafe and unprofessional interception.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. would make a protest with the Russian ambassador and that the U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, had made similar representations in Moscow.
The US European Command said earlier in a statement that two Russian Su-27 fighter jets “conducted an unsafe and unprofessional interception” of a US MQ-9 drone operating in international airspace over the Black Sea.
It said one of the Russian fighters “hit the propeller” of the MQ-9, after US forces deliberately brought it down in international waters.
Earlier, the Su-27s dumped fuel and flew in front of the MQ-9 several times before colliding in a “reckless, disrespectful and unprofessional environment,” the US European Command said in a statement from Stuttgart, Germany.
The US said it was forced to crash its own surveillance drone after it was cut off by a Russian fighter jet, the first military aircraft from the two superpowers to make contact since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. For its part, Russia denies having any contact with the drone.
Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern about US intelligence flights near the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The Kremlin says that by supplying weapons to Ukraine and sharing intelligence with Kyiv, the US and its allies are effectively participating in the conflict.
Kirby stressed that the incident will not prevent the US from continuing its mission in the region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of fueling the war in Ukraine and threatened to pull out of the nuclear deal, while US President Joe Biden promised Russia would not experience victory in Ukraine.
“If the message wants to prevent or prevent us from flying and operating in international airspace, over the Black Sea, that message will fail,” Kirby said. “That’s not going to happen.”
“We will continue to fly and operate in international airspace over international waters,” he said. “The Black Sea does not have a single nation.”
A dangerous pattern
US European Command said Tuesday’s incident followed a pattern of dangerous behavior by Russian pilots when interacting with US and allied aircraft in international airspace, including over the Black Sea.
“This aggressive action by the Russian aircrew is dangerous and could lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation,” he said.
General David Berger, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said that such collisions are of greatest concern in the European and Pacific regions.
“Probably the biggest worry there and in the Pacific is a pilot or captain of an aggressive Russian or Chinese ship, or something very close, not knowing where they are, and causing a collision,” Berger said, in response to a question. at the National Press Club event on Friday.
He said the incident was intentional or not, forcing the country’s leaders to try to deal with it quickly from afar.
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