Russia does not want a "clash" with the United States. The Russian ambassador in Washington told the press Anatoly Antonov, after being summoned to the US State Department for the accident between a Russian fighter and a US drone.
The diplomat specified the Russian position to reporters:
"As we see it, American planes shouldn't be near the Russian border. Can you imagine if such a drone suddenly appeared near New York or San Francisco? Can you imagine the reaction of the US press, of the Pentagon, to this drone? What kind of drone was it? Think before you summon me to the State Department. It was a multipurpose drone, with an attack capacity of up to 1700 kg of explosive payload. Tell me how would a Ministry of Defense of any country react if the threat of such a danger appeared along the borders of its country? I think it is best that we discuss ways of cooperation and mutual action at the State Department, but unfortunately, my communication with the State Department lately has been only to address its complaints about the actions of the Russian Federation. The Russian Federation is not interested in the confrontation. The Russian side is interested in pragmatic relations with the United States in the interests of both the Russian and American people".
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The accident
Yesterday morning over the Black Sea, south of Ukraine but in international airspace, there was a clash between a Russian military plane and a US drone. The US Army European Command said the drone was crashed after two Russian planes conducted a dangerous and unprofessional interception activity. As soon as it fell into the sea, the Americans remotely destroyed all the classified components of the aircraft, first recovering the images and photographs captured by the APR during its mission.
The Russian Defense Ministry responded in a message via Telegram that its plane did not make contact with the drone, claiming it crashed for other reasons. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman, said the United States possesses video recorded by the drone, which would confirm the US version.
Two interceptor fighters Su-27 have flown near the drone for at least 30 minutes. They first dumped fuel on the drone and flew past it; after which, one of the two would have hit the drone, forcing the US Air Force to drop it into the sea. It is unclear whether the Russian plane hit the drone on purpose or ran into it while it was trying to do something else.
The drone was a MQ-9 Reaper, which has a wingspan of 20 meters and is designed to fly at high altitudes, and was carrying out routine operations. The drone had departed from a base in Romania for a reconnaissance flight of about 10 hours, a US military spokesman said. Drones of this type, also used for offensive purposes, can reach speeds of over 400 kilometers per hour.
The Pentagon has announced that it will continue to operate in the area anyway and John Kirby, the spokesman for the National Security Council of the United States presidency, said that it is not the first time that, in relation to the war in Ukraine, Russia performs interception operations, which until now had never ended with the crash of a drone.