New Delhi: Two Russian Su-27 jets on Tuesday (March 14, 2023) carried out what the US described as a “reckless” interception of an American spy drone while it was flying over international airspace. The US military said Russian fighters dumped fuel on the MQ-9 drone – possibly trying to blind it or damage it – and flew in front of it in unsafe manoeuvres. The US military said that after about 30 to 40 minutes, at 7:03 am (0603 GMT), one of the jets collided with a drone and caused it to crash into the Black Sea. The Pentagon said Russia has not recovered the drone and the jet is likely damaged.
US Air Force General James Hecker, who oversees US Air, “Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and struck by a Russian aircraft, resulting in the crash and MQ-9 was a total loss.” forces in the area, said in a statement.
“In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians caused both planes to crash,” he said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry, however, denied that its plane had come into contact with an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which it said had crashed after a “sharp manoeuvre”.
It said the drone was seen near the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
“The Russian fighters did not use their onboard weapons, did not come into contact with the UAV and returned safely to their home airspace,” the defense ministry said.
Significantly, this was the first such direct encounter between the two world powers since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
Meanwhile, Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, was summoned by the US State Department to discuss what happened on the Black Sea.
Antonov said their meeting was “constructive” and the issue of possible “consequences” for Moscow was not raised, the RIA state news agency reported.
Antonov is quoted as saying, “As for us, we do not seek any confrontation between the United States and Russia. We are in favor of building practical relations for the benefit of the Russian and American peoples.”