Tensions remain high between Washington and Moscow after an aerial incident on Tuesday, the United States accusing the Russian aviation of having “intercepted and rammed” an American Reaper drone over the Black Sea and caused it to fall, which the Russia denies. The Express takes stock of the situation.
What happened ?
“Our MQ-9 drone was performing routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and rammed by a Russian aircraft, resulting in the crash and loss of the MQ-9,” Commander General James Hecker said on Tuesday. US air forces in Europe, confirming information revealed earlier by AFP. And to clarify that before the collision of one of the Russian Su-27 fighters with the drone damaging the propeller, they had dropped fuel and flown over the device several times.
The Reaper drone is an aircraft – 20 meters wide – remotely piloted and equipped with onboard sensors for surveillance, as well as armament. Flying at a cruising speed of 335 km/h, it has a range of more than 24 hours. According to Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder, the drone was “unable to fly and out of control”.
How did Washington and Moscow react?
“This is a dangerous and unprofessional act on the part of the Russians”, underlined James Hecker, adding that “the drones of the United States and allies will continue to operate in international airspace”, and calling on Russians to “behave professionally”. In protest, the US State Department summoned Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov, while US Ambassador to Moscow Lynne Tracy sent a message to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
For its part, Moscow denies being responsible for the fall of the aircraft. “Following a brutal maneuver around 09:30 Moscow time, the MQ-9 drone began an uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and struck the surface of the water,” the Russian ministry said. of Defense, specifying that its two hunters had not fired and had not had “contact” with the drone and “returned safely to their base”. Anatoly Antonov, he called on Washington to stop flights “hostiles” near the Russian borders. “We assume that the United States will refrain from further speculation in the media space and cease flights near Russian borders,” he said.
“The incident with the American MQ-9 Reaper drone caused by Russia in the Black Sea is a signal from (Vladimir) Putin that he is ready to expand the conflict zone and involve other parties in it,” said Ukrainian Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov tweeted.
What’s happening in the Black Sea?
Since the start of the war, Westerners have regularly sent spy planes over the Black Sea to gather intelligence on Russian positions and operations, which is then provided to the army in Kiev. Legal actions – these aircraft remain in international airspace – but which annoy the Russians, sometimes tempted to intimidate them. On September 29, 2022, a Sukhoi Su-27 had already fired a missile near a British RC-35 intelligence aircraft patrolling over the Black Sea, without hitting it. Moscow had pleaded a “technical malfunction”.
“With the current crisis, we have an increase in the number of reconnaissance vectors towards Crimea, with Reaper, which we did not have before. And depending on the situation, this can irritate the Russians. that there have been activities to collect information from Westerners who participate in targeting for Ukraine”, supports AFP a French expert, on condition of anonymity.
Ukraine’s Western allies, who have been delivering arms to Kiev since the start of the conflict to help it defend itself, are not directly involved on Ukrainian territory, for fear of an escalation with Russian nuclear power. CNN remarks that “this is the first time since the invasion of Ukraine that Russian and American military aircraft have come into direct physical contact”. There Deutsche Welle goes even further, suggesting that it would also be “the first time since the height of the Cold War that an American aircraft has been shot down after being hit by a Russian aircraft”.