Conflict The video that proves that the impact of a Russian fighter shot down a US drone in the Black Sea

The high command in Europe of the US army published images of the attack on an American drone by one of the Russian fighter planes that went out to meet it while it was flying over the Black Sea

Conflict The video that proves that the impact of a Russian fighter shot down a US drone in the Black Sea

The high command in Europe of the US army published images of the attack on an American drone by one of the Russian fighter planes that went out to meet it while it was flying over the Black Sea. The video calls into question the version of Russia, which has denied that a collision occurred, since it even shows the damaged propeller seconds after the crash. The recording comes from the camera of the MQ-9 Reaper drone, which at that moment is pointing toward its tail and the drone's propeller, which on that model is rear-mounted. A Russian Sukhoi -27 fighter plane soon appears approaching. As it gets closer, the Russian fighter jet drops fuel on the American drone. Then the same fighter or another Russian plane of the same model makes another pass. As it gets closer, it seems to spew fuel again. But this time the video of the drone is interrupted when the Russian fighter plane apparently collides with the MQ-9 Reaper, damaging the propeller and forcing the US drone pilots to crash the device into the Black Sea. The effects of the impact are appreciated. at the end of the video. When the camera displays images again, the view is again pointing to the rear, and the propeller appears damaged from the collision. With the propeller partially destroyed, the drone operators flew the plane like a glider as it descended over the Black Sea. It crashed in international waters southwest of Crimea. As it fell, operators remotely wiped the drone's most sensitive software, mitigating the risk of the secret information it carries falling into Russian hands. Moscow has said it will attempt to recover the aircraft. National Security Council communications coordinator John Kirby told CNN This Morning on Wednesday that the drone had not been recovered and that he was "not sure" that the United States could rescue him. It is Russia that has the ships well placed in the area to do so.

The video is just 33 seconds of an on-air harassment that the Pentagon says lasted between 30 and 40 minutes, but sheds light on a controversy that has further soured relations between Russia and the US.

On Tuesday afternoon, Washington accused Russia of shooting down one of its reconnaissance drones over the Black Sea early in the morning. Russia has insisted from the start that it did not shoot down the US drone, saying it crashed due to a "sharp maneuver". But the video released by the US shows the opposite. After the first US complaints, Moscow soon went on the attack. The Kremlin said its relations with the United States are in a "sorry state" and at their lowest level. The Russian ambassador in Washington, Anatoli Antonov, denounced the "unacceptable activity of the US army in the vicinity of the Russian borders". The head of the Russian secret services, Sergei Narishkin, has also warned that the United States has been "very active" for some time. in spatial, visual and radio reconnaissance missions in the Black Sea area. Russia denounces that this information is later supplied to Ukraine to attack them. The United States has lodged a formal protest with Russia over Tuesday's incident.

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