We know that the tensions between the US and Russia are at its peak because of the Ukraine war and the fact that the US is, directly and indirectly, supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia. Obviously, the Russian side is angered by this fact but there is not much they can do about the situation as they can’t control what Ukraine does right now and whose support they take. On the other hand, we know that Russia is trying to amp up its attacks on Ukraine and this is evident by the latest developments in Ukraine.
However, a new incident has come to light which can be seen as the first direct altercation between Russia and the US. While this is not a big one, it can be seen as a major one if things are taken into perspective. So, an incident was reported between the Russian fighter jets and a US drone over the Black Sea yesterday where the Russian jets intentionally downed a US drone flying over the Black Sea.
The US European Command said that both the US Reaper drone and the Russian Su-27 aircrafts were flying over international waters over the Black Sea but the Russian fighter jet dumped fuel on the unmanned Reaper drone several times in order to force it down. This eventually led the US side to force its drone down and into the Black Sea. The aircraft also hit the propeller of the drone so as to stop it from flying any further.
Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of the US Air forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said, “Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9,”. “In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”
Russian Ambassador to the US, Antony Antonov, said “We prefer not to create a situation where we can face unintended clashes or unintended incidents between the Russian Federation and the United States,” and added he does not want a “confrontation” between the two sides after being summoned by the US over this incident.
