A Russian Su-27 fighter jet hit the propeller of a US Reaper reconnaissance drone on March 14, 2023, the US military said. The drone crashed into the Black Sea. The US military described the incident as risky. The picture shows the pre-flight preparation of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone during the Ample Strike international exercise on September 15, 2021 at the air base in Náměšt nad Oslavou.
Washington/Moscow – The American MQ-9 Reaper multipurpose drone crashed over the Black Sea today. According to the US military, this happened after the plane was shot down by a Russian Su-27 fighter jet in international airspace. Russia denied this, saying the drone went down as a result of careless maneuvering. Washington attributes the destruction of the American drone to dangerous actions by the Russian side, and the United States State Department summoned the Russian ambassador to the country over the incident.
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by sea Russia, Moscow denies involvement” />
The U.S. military said two Russian fighter jets were maneuvering to intercept the drone, with one of them hitting its propeller. The Americans subsequently let their damaged drone fall. According to the U.S. military, the Russian jets had already dropped fuel on the drone before the collision, apparently in an attempt to damage it or make it impossible to navigate, and were flying in front of it.
The Russian Ministry of Defense denied this accusation and said that its fighters did not come into contact with American drone in contact. According to Moscow, the drone went into an uncontrollable flight with a loss of height and crashed into water surfaces. The ministry also said that the incident took place near Crimea around 9:30 a.m. Moscow time (7:30 a.m. CET). This Ukrainian peninsula was annexed by Russia in 2014 in violation of international law.
The Pentagon said that the Russian fighter jet apparently also suffered damage in the collision. According to him, the destroyed American drone was not recovered by the Russians.
American diplomacy said that it is in direct contact with high-ranking Russian officials to express its disapproval of today's incident. The incident over the Black Sea took place at a time of unprecedented tension in relations with Moscow due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
