Pentagon explains about U.S. military drone struck by Russian fighter jet

Russia demanded the United States on Wednesday to cease its "hostile" activity near its border, and also assured that it will try to recover the wreckage of the unmanned military drone that two of its fighters harassed until they collided with it, forcing the Pentagon to shoot it down on Tuesday over international waters of the Black Sea. Two Russian Su-27 fighter jets followed the surveillance drone as it flew in international airspace over the Black Sea, which borders Turkey, Ukraine and Russia, among other countries, according to the U.S. European Military Command. They also "dumped fuel and flew in front of the MQ-9 Reaper drone in a reckless (...) and unprofessional manner," it added in a statement. A Russian aircraft collided with the drone's propeller, the Defense Department said, calling the incident a "blatant violation of international law" and summoning the Russian ambassador to lodge a diplomatic protest. Russia denied that its aircraft came "into contact" with the unmanned drone and pointed to the United States as the culprit, accusing it of provocation by conducting surveillance near Russian airspace to assist Ukraine in the wake of Russia's 2022 invasion.

2023-03-16T03:58:48+00:00
Duration: 28:59