The US army mentioned a Russian fighter aircraft clipped the propeller of 1 its spy drones and made it crash into the Black Sea on Tuesday within the first such direct encounter between the 2 world powers since Russia invaded Ukraine over a yr in the past.
The Russian defence ministry provided a unique account and Moscow’s ambassador to Washington mentioned his nation ”views this incident as a provocation” involving a U.S. MQ-9 drone and Russian Su-27 fighter jet.
The United States, which has offered tens of billions of {dollars} in army assist to Ukraine, has not turn into straight engaged within the conflict nevertheless it does conduct common surveillance flights within the area.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelenskiy mentioned on Tuesday evening that army commanders have been unanimously in favour of defending the jap frontline, together with the ruined metropolis of Bakhmut, which has been beneath siege by Russia for months.
”The principal focus was on … Bakhmut,” Zelenskiy mentioned in his nightly video tackle. ”There was a transparent place of all the command: Strengthen this sector and destroy the occupiers to the utmost.”
Zelenskiy dismissed three regional governors, together with Luhansk within the east, Odesa on the Black Sea within the south and Khnelnitskiy area within the west, however no motive was given within the announcement by the federal government’s parliamentary consultant.
On the diplomatic and financial fronts, talks continued to increase a deal to permit grain shipments from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports that is because of expire this week, the United Nations and Turkey mentioned. The Kyiv authorities rejected a Russian push for a 60-day renewal, half the time period of the earlier renewal.
DRONE CRASH
Two Russian Su-27 jets carried out what the U.S. army described as a reckless intercept of the American spy drone whereas flying in worldwide air area. It mentioned the Russian fighter jets dumped gas on the MQ-9 – probably making an attempt to blind or injury it – and flew in entrance of it in unsafe manoeuvres.
After round 30 to 40 minutes, at 7:03 a.m. (0603 GMT), one of many jets then collided with the drone, inflicting it to crash, the U.S. army mentioned.
Russia has not recovered the drone and the jet was possible broken, the Pentagon mentioned.
”In truth, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians practically precipitated each plane to crash,” U.S. Air Force General James Hecker, who oversees the U.S. Air Force within the area, mentioned in an announcement.
Russia’s defence ministry denied that its plane had come into contact with the unmanned aerial car (UAV), which it mentioned had crashed after ”sharp manoeuvring”. It mentioned the drone had been detected close to the Crimea peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
”The Russian fighters didn’t use their onboard weapons, didn’t come into contact with the UAV and returned safely to their dwelling airfield,” the defence ministry mentioned.
The accounts of the incident within the Black Sea, which is bordered by Russia and Ukraine amongst different nations, couldn’t be independently verified.
”This is a really delicate stage on this battle as a result of it truly is the primary direct contact that the general public is aware of about between the West and Russia,” mentioned Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow on the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR SUMMONED
Russia’s Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov was summoned by the U.S. State Department to debate what occurred over the Black Sea, mentioned spokesperson Ned Price.
Antonov mentioned his assembly was ”constructive” and the problem of doable ”penalties” for Moscow was not raised, RIA state information company reported.
”As for us, we don’t want any confrontation between the United States and Russia. We are in favour of constructing pragmatic relations for the advantage of the Russian and American peoples,” Antonov was quoted as saying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has framed Moscow’s ”particular army operation” in Ukraine as a defensive one in opposition to what he sees as a hostile West bent on increasing into territories traditionally dominated by Russia.
Ukraine and its Western allies say Moscow is waging an unprovoked conflict of conquest that has destroyed Ukrainian cities, killed 1000’s of individuals and compelled thousands and thousands extra to flee their houses.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed)
