First modification:
In an unusual move, the Pentagon declassified this Thursday, March 16, a video that it says shows the interception by Russia of a US military surveillance MQ-9 drone, shot down over the Black Sea on March 14. The publication of the images comes amid the crossing of accusations between both governments. Moscow insists it did not cause the aircraft to go down and has announced its intention to recover the wreckage of the drone.
Pictures are worth a thousand words. At least that is what Washington tries to demonstrate in the midst of exchanging accusations with Moscow for the fall of an American drone over the Black Sea, which occurred on March 14.
The Pentagon released this Thursday, March 16, a video, until now classified, that captures the moments in which a Russian combat plane intercepts a US unmanned aircraft.
In the footage, a Russian Su-27 fighter approaches an MQ-9 drone and drops fuel near the latter. Officials from the Joe Biden Administration point out that it is a maneuver with the intention of damaging the US plane.
In another part of the video, it is observed that the Russian plane approaches again and again releases fuel. The drone video is interrupted when the Russian fighter collides with the MQ-9 and damages the propeller.
According to the version of the United States Command in Europe, this action forced its forces to shoot down the aircraft over international waters.
BREAKING: The aerial footage of the Russian fighter jet and a US drone colliding has just been released by the United States Military.
– Communications were lost for a couple of seconds with the drone just as the image gets pixelated.
– When the video feed summarized it’s clear… https://t.co/NJqOZPBvWS pic.twitter.com/NDYgtZqfvW—Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) March 16, 2023
During its descent, according to two US officials quoted by the local press, the operators cleaned the drone’s sensitive software to mitigate the risk of secret materials falling into “enemy” hands before it hit the water.
The visual piece which is around 40 seconds long was edited by the US Army. However, the Pentagon claims that it shows the events in sequential order.
Sources interviewed by the US press indicated this week that senior Russian Defense Ministry officials gave the order for Russian warplanes to corner the US drone.
“I cannot speak at this moment about the motive or the intent (of the Russians) but I can say very clearly that this was a reckless and dangerous action,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week.
This was the first time that two US and Russian military planes have collided since the Kremlin launched the war on Ukraine more than a year ago.
The events occurred precisely on the Black Sea which, among others, surrounds the Crimean peninsula, in southern Ukraine, and which Moscow irregularly annexed in 2014, an area that Kiev promises to recover.
Washington claims that everything occurred in international waters, but the Kremlin’s ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, told the Biden government to “stop flying near Russian borders.”
London stressed to the Russian government that it respects international airspace.
The Russian version of the crash of the American drone
The Kremlin claims there was no direct contact between its Su-27 fighters and the crashed drone.
Moscow admits that its planes intercepted the US aircraft, but insists that they did not cause any damage that led to its downing.
Likewise, the Russian authorities allege that the drone entered Crimea, where Moscow has declared a no-fly zone due to its conflict in Ukraine, which would demonstrate the “direct” involvement of the United States in the war in which it supports Russia. Kiev.
“Any incident that provokes tensions between the two great nuclear powers entails very important risks for world security,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Lavrov said defiantly after accusing Washington of carrying out “hostile” flights.
Russia hopes to go further and announced that it would try to find the remains of the drone and recover it to analyze its sophisticated observation equipment..
“I don’t know if we will be able to recover it, but we have to try and we will work on it,” Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said.
Two US officials said Russia was able to identify the crash zone, but National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby said his country made it “impossible” for valuable intelligence to be obtained from the US. drone wreckage.
Despite the unpublished disclosure of the video and the accusations on both sides, Washington has not indicated whether it will take action against Russia over this incident.
Such a move could increase tensions between the two governments, which the Kremlin has declared are at their “nadir.”
With Reuters and local media
