As fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces continues in Bakhmut, a Russian warplane caused an unmanned aircraft – a drone – from the US Air Force to crash into the Black Sea on Tuesday (14), further heightening tensions. in the region.
The MQ-9 Reaper drone was operating in international waters when a Russian Su-27 fighter, accompanied by another similar aircraft, intentionally maneuvered in front of the drone and dumped fuel in front of the drone, according to a statement by General James B. Hecker, commander of the United States Air Forces in Europe and Africa.
After that, one of the fighters hit the Reaper’s propeller, forcing the drone operators, who operate remotely, to make it descend into the waters of the Black Sea.
That’s all we know about the incident that brought US-Russia relations, already seriously damaged by the war in Ukraine, to their “lowest point”, according to the Kremlin.
Operations in the Black Sea
American and Russian fighter jets have regularly operated in territorial waters in the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine during the war, but this is the first known interaction of its kind.
Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Russian plane flew “in close proximity” to the drone, which was conducting “routine operations”, for 30 to 40 minutes before crashing shortly after 7am. European.
“In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused the two planes to crash,” he added.
According to the US Air Force, the Reaper drone can fly up to 15 kilometers in altitude and has sensors and capabilities to collect information and carry out reconnaissance tasks for extended periods, making it an ideal platform to follow movements on the battlefield. and in the Black Sea.
But when armed, the Reaper can also be used against “high value” targets, given its weapons systems and ability to police an area for an extended period of time.
In other words, the drone, priced at around $56 million, is capable of both surveilling and attacking the enemy. These two uses have earned the model a nickname in military circles: the “hunter-killer”.
US reaction
US officials have expressed “strong objections” to the incident, and President Joe Biden and US allies have been informed, according to the White House and Pentagon.
National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby said it was “not uncommon” for Russian planes to intercept American planes over the Black Sea, explaining that there had been other interceptions in recent weeks.
However, he emphasized that Tuesday’s episode was unique in terms of how “unsafe, unprofessional and reckless” Russian actions were.
He also noted that Russia has not recovered the downed drone.
Russia’s response
Moscow responded by denying that its fighter jets “had come into contact” with the US drone, as the country claims.
In a statement, Russia’s Defense Ministry denied having been in contact with the drone, saying warplanes “ran to identify the intruder” after spotting it over the Black Sea. And he added that the drone “performed an unguided flight with loss of altitude”.
“The drone flew without its transponders, violating the limits of the temporary airspace regime established for the special military operation, communicated to all international airspace users and disseminated in accordance with international standards,” the ministry said.
Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov declared that Moscow does not want a “confrontation” with Washington, but that the aircraft was too close to the Russian border. The drone was not recovered, according to a spokesman for the US European Command.
Antonov said, however, that “as we see, US planes have nothing to do near the Russian border”.
“Imagine that an aircraft like this suddenly appears near New York or San Francisco. Can you imagine the reaction of the American press and the Pentagon to this drone? What kind of drone was it? Think twice before summoning me to the State Department. It is a [drone] multipurpose, with an attack capacity of up to 1,700 kilograms of explosive payload,” he said in remarks to reporters after being summoned by the State Department.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said on Wednesday that relations between Russia and the United States were at their “lowest point” and in a “deplorable state”, and insisted that Russian jets had not been in contact. physical with the drone.
According to Peskov, President Vladimir Putin was informed of the incident, but there was no high-level contact between Moscow and Washington.
Source: CNN Brasil
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