Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced Friday that he will honor the pilots of the Su-27 fighter jet that shot down a US drone over the Black Sea.
According to Sergei Shoigu, the two pilots “prevented the American MQ-9 unmanned flying device from violating the limits of the zone of restricted use of airspace established to carry out the special military operation in Ukraine.”
According to the press office of the Russian Ministry of Defense, the limits of the air zone were published, “as established by the rules”, and international users became aware of them.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said today that Russia’s Air Navigation Code allows the government to establish “no-fly zones.”
“Drones must comply with these rules, especially in periods of military action, as airspace users know,” Medvedev said.
The United States accused one of the Russian Su-27 fighter jets escorting its drone on Tuesday of striking the propeller of the MQ-9, causing it to crash in international waters of the Black Sea.
On Thursday, the US released footage of what it said was a Russian plane dropping fuel on a US Air Force surveillance drone, damaging the drone’s propeller as it flew over the Black Sea.
The 42-second video shows a Russian Su-27 jet approaching the rear of the MQ-9 ‘drone’ (unmanned aerial device) and releasing fuel as it passes, the Pentagon explained.
Following the incident, the United States claimed it was forced to shoot down the drone in Black Sea waters and blamed Moscow for the incident.
In turn, the Russian Ministry of Defense denied any contact between its fighters and the ‘drone’, which, according to the Kremlin’s version, began a sudden and uncontrolled flight and fell into the sea after suddenly losing height.
The events took place near the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Russia, where Moscow frowns on the presence of NATO, be it warships or reconnaissance and surveillance devices.
Despite the incident, the United States has not apologized to Russia and is only focused on supporting Ukraine against the Russian invasion, Pat Ryder concluded.
The Russian military offensive on Ukrainian territory, launched on February 24 last year, plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
Source: TSF
