Irritated reaction to crash
Russia: US drones collect data for Kiev
3/15/2023 5:09 am
A US military drone crashes over the Black Sea. Washington blames two Russian fighter jets. Moscow reacted angrily to the allegations and spoke of a “provocation”.
After the military incident over the Black Sea, Moscow’s ambassador in Washington accused the US of using its drones to collect reconnaissance data for Ukraine. “What are they doing thousands of miles away from the United States? The answer is obvious – they are gathering intelligence that will later be used by the Kiev regime to attack our forces and territory,” Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov in Washington said Russian state agency TASS reported. Russia assumes that the USA will refrain from further speculation in the media “and will stop its operations near the Russian borders”.
According to the US military, an unmanned American military drone collided with a Russian fighter jet in international airspace over the Black Sea on Tuesday. US forces should have crashed the drone after the collision. The Americans blamed Russia for the clash. The US State Department summoned the Russian ambassador to the incident. Moscow rejected the allegations and said the drone crashed after a sharp evasive maneuver. The Black Sea borders both Russia and Ukraine.
Washington considers release of footage
Antonov said the US military’s “unacceptable actions in close proximity to our borders” are a cause for concern. “We know very well what tasks such reconnaissance and combat drones are used for,” Tass quoted as saying from a statement by the ambassador. “We regard this incident as a provocation.”
US National Security Council communications director John Kirby dismissed the account from Moscow and said the US government is considering releasing footage of the drone’s encounter with the two Russian fighter jets to provide clarification. Kirby warned that such inappropriate action by Russian pilots could lead to “misjudgments” between the armed forces of both countries. He warned that after a year of Russia’s war against Ukraine, everyone should take everything the Russians said about activities in and around Ukraine with the utmost caution.
The MQ-9 drone is primarily used for reconnaissance, but can also perform precision strikes. It is controlled remotely. In view of the Ukraine war, the situation is particularly tense and there is great fear of a possible direct military confrontation between the USA and Russia.