The US Department of Defense previously accused Russian pilots of reckless overflying of the Black Sea
The Pentagon has released a video it says was shot from a US MQ-9 Reaper drone during a close encounter with a Russian Su-27 fighter jet, after which the US plane dived into the Black Sea earlier this week.
The 50-second clip provided to media shows an interceptor aircraft approaching the drone from behind and apparently ejecting fuel as it climbs.
The Pentagon said the Russian jets carried out several such maneuvers on Tuesday, including one in which the unmanned aircraft’s tail propeller was reportedly hit and damaged. The footage appears to show two, with the camera panning both times.
The Russian Defense Ministry denied there was a collision and claimed the US drone stalled after performing a dangerous maneuver. Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said the cause of the incident was the drone’s incursion into an area that the Russian military had declared off-limits due to the ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has suggested that potentially armed American planes have no place near Russian borders.
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