Russian and US versions of the Tuesday, February 14 incident in the skies over the Black Sea are opposite. While Washington claims the US MQ-9 Reaper drone was “shot down” by a Russian jet that damaged the aircraft’s propeller, Moscow claims the Russian fighter jets “did not use weapons” against the US drone that was flying over the Black Sea and “did not enter in touch” with him. This was stated by the Ministry of Defense of Russia, according to reports by the RIA Novosti agency. The drone “went into an uncontrolled flight, lost altitude and fell into the water”, adds the dicastery.
According to the reconstruction of Moscow, the US drone “was heading towards the Russian border” and, “after the discovery, the air defense forces on duty took off”, an incident that risks provoking an escalation of the war in Ukraine.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has not spoken to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu about the case, Pentagon spokesman General Patrick Ryder said. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s defense spokesman said the Pentagon declined to provide details on how and where the drone was hit. During the briefing with journalists, the defense spokesman said several times that he could not provide details, but limited himself to saying that it had been damaged, without indicating where.
Source: IL Tempo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
