Ukraine War: 1st Direct US-Russia Encounter; Russian Jet ‘downs’ US Spy Drone over Black Sea

Two Russian Su-27 fighter jets dumped fuel on an American MQ-9 spy drone and later one of the jets collided with the drone, causing it to crash into the Black Sea on Tuesday, said the US military. The US military described the event as a ‘reckless intercept of the American spy drone’ while flying in international air space.

But Moscow’s ambassador to Washington termed the incident a ‘provocation’. Russia’s ambassador to Washington said his country “views this incident as a provocation” involving a US MQ-9 drone and Russian Su-27 fighter jet.

The Pentagon said Russia has not recovered the drone and the jet was likely damaged.

Meanwhile, The Russian defence ministry gave a different account explanation. It denied that its aircraft had come into contact with the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which it said had crashed after “sharp manoeuvring”. It said the drone had been detected near the Crimea peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.