US says Russian jet caused spy drone crash over the Black Sea

An MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) flying over the Nevada Test and Training Range in 2020. Pic/AFP

The U.S. military said a Russian fighter plane clipped the propeller of one of its spy drones and made it crash into the Black Sea in the first such direct encounter between the two powers since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago. The Russia's defence ministry offered a different account of Tuesday's incident and its ambassador to the United States said his country viewed the incident involving a U.S. MQ-9 drone and a Russian Su-27 fighter jet as a "provocation".

Also Read: Russia wants to recover debris of US drone from Black Sea

The United States conducts regular surveillance flights in the region and has supported Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars in military aid, although it has not become directly engaged in the war. Russia had shelled dozens of settlements along the eastern front in the past 24 hours including a rocket attack on a civil infrastructure in the Kherson region which caused civilian casualties, the Ukrainian military said on Wednesday.

The battlefield reports could not be verified and Russia denies targeting civilians. Russian authorities said they will try to recover the fragments of the US surveillance drone.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever