According to the United States, the video shows a Russian Su-27 fighter jet dousing the drone with fuel and hitting its propeller.
The US military has released a video of the encounter between a Russian fighter jet and an American drone that happened on Tuesday evening.
American sources said earlier that the drone was moving in international waters when two Russian Su-27 fighter jets doused it with fuel. According to the United States, the video shows a fuel rod following a Russian fighter jet. After this, one of the fighters hit the drone’s propeller.
The drone fell into the sea and was destroyed. It was an unmanned MQ-9 Reaper drone. It was the first time that Russia shot down an American drone.
United States Air Force published a statement (you are moving to another service)in which it described the actions of the Russian fighters as “irresponsible and unprofessional.”
Washington immediately announced that it plans to continue using drones in the Black Sea as before.
Russia denies and claims that the fall was caused by the drone’s “sharp control movements”
Russia, on the other hand, claims that it had nothing to do with the downing of the drone.
On Tuesday, the country’s Ministry of Defense gave a statement to the Russian state news agency Tassi, according to which the Russian fighters did not use their weapons in the incident and did not hit the drone at all.
According to Russia, the drone fell due to its “sharp maneuvers”.
– The Russian fighters did not use their weapons, were not in contact with the unmanned aircraft and returned safely to their home field, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.
Source: Reuters