Russian jet crashes into American drone over Black Sea, US releases footage
"This declassified video has been edited for length, but the events are portrayed in sequential order," the accompanying remark read.
Earlier this week, a Russian Su-27 and an American MQ-9 drone collided over the Black Sea. On Thursday, the US Department of Defense released video of the incident.
During the Russian jet's approach to the MQ-9 and eventual collision with it, fuel can be seen being dumped out of the aircraft in the drone video.
The declassified video, which lasts for roughly 40 seconds, shows the unmanned MQ-9 reconnaissance aircraft being approached closely by a Su-27 fighter jet, fuel being dumped nearby, and a damaged propeller following the intercept.
The US military reportedly edited the video for length but kept the events in chronological order, according to the Pentagon
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BREAKING: DoD releases footage of a Russian Su-27 colliding into a U.S. MQ-9 over the Black Sea Tuesday.
You can see the Russian aircraft dump fuel on the MQ-9, then bump into it. The video is lost; a few seconds later the feed returns and you can see the propeller is damaged. pic.twitter.com/jzF7NZ1em5
— Lara Seligman (@laraseligman) March 16, 2023
Russia has refuted US claims that its aircraft behaved recklessly during the incident.
"Two Russian Su-27 aircraft performed an unsafe and unprofessional intercept with a US Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance unmanned MQ-9 aircraft operating within international airspace over the Black Sea on March 14, 2023," reads the caption of the footage that was made public. The MQ-9 had to be shot down in international waters by US forces after Russian Su-27s threw fuel at it and hit its propeller.
"This declassified video has been edited for length, but the events are portrayed in sequential order," the accompanying remark read.
Anatoly Antonov, the Russian ambassador to the US, described the event as a "provocation" on Wednesday.
He claimed that the US was providing intelligence to Kyiv and said, "We are concerned about the unacceptable behavior of the US military in the immediate area of our borders. The incident had prompted the US to call the ambassador.
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