Russia commented on the incident over the Black Sea involving an American drone and fighter jets, denying any physical interference.
Earlier, the White House said that the MQ-9 drone failed after contact with one of the Russian aircraft, as a result of which it was forced to flood.
The Russian Ministry of Defense denied the fact of the physical intervention of their fighters and assured that the American drone fell into the sea “as a result of a sharp maneuver.” The department stressed that “the fighters were taken into the air to identify an object approaching the Russian state border in the region of the Crimean peninsula.”
The White House described incidentas “reckless and unsafe,” and Moscow as a “provocation.”
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov, summoned to the State Department, justified the actions of Russian pilots before this:
“This drone can carry 1,700 kilograms of explosives. This drone can carry several bombs. You will see what the United States will do if such a Russian drone flies very close to, for example, San Francisco or New York. What will be the reaction of the United States? It’s obvious to me.”
The diplomat voiced the Russian version of the incident over the Black Sea:
“I want to emphasize that the Russian pilots acted very professionally. There was no contact, there was no use of any weapons by our fighters. And this unmanned aerial vehicle, having made a sharp turn, crashed into space. The device flew with transponders turned off, and it entered the zone, which was defined as a zone of a special military operation. Through international channels, we warned everyone about this. I believe that this is a real provocation. This provoked us to some kind of action, after which one could accuse the Russian military of some kind of unprofessional actions” .
Patrick Ryder, Pentagon spokesman, says:
“We saw a fighter jet drain fuel in front of this UAV and then got so close to it that it damaged the propeller of the MQ-9. Due to this damage, we were forced to essentially sink it in the Black Sea.”
The Pentagon considers the incident more serious than has happened before, and warns that such actions could lead to miscalculations and inadvertent escalations.
More Stories
The Minister of Health called the protesters "insignificant people, kafirs"
Gold Switzerland: “We are in the last 5 minutes of our financial system – the collapse of everything is approaching”
Union of Judges: “People’s courts were created against us with the loyal attitude of the government”