The Pentagon has launched footage of what it says is a Russian plane conducting an unsafe intercept of a U.S. Air Force surveillance drone in worldwide airspace over the Black Sea.
The 42-second video, launched Thursday, exhibits a Russian Su-27 approaching the again of the MQ-9 drone and starting to launch gasoline because it passes, the Pentagon stated.
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Russia-U.S. drone incident prompts uncommon talks between navy chiefs as relations bitter
The U.S. navy stated it ditched the MQ-9 Reaper within the sea on Tuesday after the Russian fighter jet poured gasoline on the unmanned aerial automobile, in an obvious try to blind its optical devices and drive it out of the world, after which struck its propeller.
The launched excerpt doesn’t present occasions earlier than or after the obvious fuel-dumping confrontation.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Mark Milley have spoken to their Russian counterparts in regards to the destruction of the U.S. drone following the encounter with Russian fighter jets.
This picture taken from video launched on Thursday, March 16, 2023, exhibits a Russian Su-27 approaching the again of the MQ-9 drone and starting to launch gasoline because it passes, over the Black Sea, the Pentagon stated.
US Department of Defense by way of AP
The calls with Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Russian General Staff Gen. Valery Gerasimov on Wednesday had been the primary since October.
While intercept makes an attempt aren’t unusual, the incident amid the warfare in Ukraine has raised considerations it may carry the United States and Russia nearer to direct battle.
That the 2 nations’ prime defence and navy leaders had been speaking so quickly after the encounter over the Black Sea underscored its seriousness.
The Russian Defence Ministry stated in its report of the decision with Austin that Shoigu accused the U.S. of upsetting the incident by ignoring flight restrictions the Kremlin had imposed due to its navy operations in Ukraine.
Russia additionally blamed “the intensification of intelligence activities against the interests of the Russian Federation.”
Such U.S. actions “are fraught with escalation of the situation in the Black Sea area,” the Defense Ministry stated, warning that Russia “will respond in kind to all provocations.”
