US and Russia give conflicting accounts of occasions that led a multimillion-dollar drone to crash into the Black Sea.
Washington’s declare that a Russian fighter jet collided with a US surveillance drone close to Crimea inflicting it to crash is each a uncommon army incident between the 2 superpowers and a severe escalation in already tense relations since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine final yr.
US and Russian officers have given conflicting accounts of what occurred on Tuesday over the Black Sea between the MQ-9 Reaper drone, valued at greater than $30m and filled with delicate US spying know-how, and two Russian Su-27 fighter jets that have been deployed to intercept the US plane.
Here's what we all know concerning the incident to this point:
What the US stated occurred
The Pentagon stated the 2 Russian Su-27 plane intercepted the drone and proceeded to dump gas on the MQ-9 Reaper mannequin because it performed routine surveillance over the Black Sea in worldwide airspace.
US officers stated the Russian jets flew round and in entrance of the drone a number of occasions for 30 to 40 minutes, after which one of many Su-27 fighters “struck the propeller” of the drone, “inflicting US forces to should carry the MQ-9 down in worldwide waters”.
A Pentagon spokesman stated the collision seemingly broken the Russian fighter jet, although the Su-27 did land.
It isn't clear if the collision was an accident or intentional on the a part of the Russian pilots, however each side align in reporting that Russian plane had intercepted the drone.
US officers stated the drone was working in worldwide airspace, reportedly west of Crimea over the Black Sea.
Russia’s place
The Russian defence ministry stated the drone was flying close to Russia’s border and intruded into an space that was declared off limits by Russian authorities.
Fighter jets have been scrambled to intercept the drone, which the Russian ambassador to the US claimed had its transponders turned off – a chunk of kit that enables an plane to be recognized within the air.
The defence ministry stated the 2 fighter jets didn't use their on-board weapons towards the US drone and didn't come into bodily contact with the plane. The drone crashed for its personal causes, the ministry stated.
“Because of fast manoeuvring, MQ9 went into unguided flight with lack of altitude & collided with the water floor,” the Russian Embassy in Washington, DC stated in a tweet citing the ministry.
⚡️@mod_russia: 🇷🇺 fighter jets scrambled to establish the intruder. Because of fast manoeuvring MQ-9 went into an unguided flight with a lack of altitude & collided with the water floor.
❗️The 🇷🇺 plane did not use on-board weapons, did not come into contact with MQ-9. pic.twitter.com/1IMi3X0D0i
— Russian Embassy in USA 🇷🇺 (@RusEmbUSA) March 14, 2023
“MQ-9 drone flew with its transponders off, violating the boundaries of the short-term airspace regime established for the particular army operation, communicated to all customers of worldwide airspace, and printed in accordance with worldwide requirements,” the embassy stated.
Russia has declared broad areas close to Crimea off limits to flights. The US doesn't recognise Russia’s annexation of Crimea following the invasion of the territory in 2014.
Russia’s Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov stated the US drone had gathered intelligence that was then utilized by Ukrainian forces to assault Russia.
“We're properly conscious of the missions such reconnaissance and strike drones are used for,” the ambassador stated on his Telegram channel on Wednesday. US drone flights within the area collect intelligence “which is later utilized by the Kiev regime to assault our armed forces and territory”, he stated.
Diplomatic fallout
The US State Division summoned Ambassador Antonov to a gathering with Karen Donfried, the assistant secretary of state for Europe.
US State Division spokesman Ned Worth stated: “We're partaking straight with the Russians, once more at senior ranges, to convey our robust objections to this unsafe, unprofessional intercept, which induced the downing of the unmanned US plane.”
US Protection Secretary Lloyd Austin has not spoken together with his Russian counterpart relating to the incident, Ryder stated.
NEWS: Russian Fighter Strikes U.S. Unmanned Plane https://t.co/3eDx3LYW6v
— Division of Protection 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) March 14, 2023
Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna, reporting from Washington, DC, stated the drone incident was “doubtlessly very severe” because it happened amid escalating tensions between Russia and the US over the invasion of Ukraine.
“Any incident like this, with the state of affairs as tenuous as it's, is an issue for each side,” he stated.
“However what we're seeing right here is an try maybe by each side to not enable the state of affairs to escalate additional,” he added.
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