US forced to down spy drone hit by Russian fighter jets over Black Sea

Russia's defense ministry said on Tuesday that its fighter jets did not come into contact with a US drone that crashed into the Black Sea earlier, claiming instead that the drone crashed due to "sharp maneuvering."

"The Russian fighters did not use their onboard weapons, did not come into contact with the UAV and returned safely to their home airfield," the defense ministry said.

A Russian Su-27 fighter jet intercepted and struck the propeller of a US military MQ-9 "Reaper" surveillance drone on Tuesday, causing it to crash into the Black Sea, in the first such incident since Russia's invasion of Ukraine over a year ago.

Two Russian Su-27 jets carried out what the US military described as a reckless intercept of the American spy drone before one of them collided with it at 7:03 a.m. local time.

"Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9," US Air Force General James Hecker, who overseas the US Air Force in the region, said in a statement.

"In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash."

Several times before the collision, the Russian fighter jets dumped fuel on the MQ-9 -- possibly trying to blind or damage it -- and flew in front of the unmanned drone in unsafe maneuvers, the US military said.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow.

The United States will on summon Russia's ambassador to Washington to discuss the incident on Tuesday afternoon local time, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

The US ambassador to Moscow has conveyed a strong message to Russia's foreign affairs ministry and US officials had briefed allies and partners over the incident, Price told reporters on a phone briefing.

The US military said the incident followed a pattern of dangerous behavior by Russian pilots operating near aircraft flown by the US and its allies, including over the Black Sea. The Black Sea lies between Europe and Asia and is bordered by Russia and Ukraine among other countries.

President Joe Biden was briefed on Tuesday about an incident over the Black Sea in which a Russian Su-27 fighter jet struck the propeller of a US military "Reaper" surveillance drone, White House spokesman John Kirby said.

While there have been other such intercepts, Kirby said, this one was noteworthy because it was "unsafe and unprofessional" and caused the downing of a US aircraft. "So it's unique in that regard," Kirby said.

"The State Department will be speaking directly with their Russian counterparts, and expressing our concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept," said Kirby.

NATO briefs allies on Black Sea incident  

NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. Army General Christopher Cavoli, briefed NATO allies about the incident, which was roundly condemned by the White House and the Pentagon -- which warned of the risk of escalation.

"General (Christopher) Cavoli has briefed NATO allies on the incident today," the official told Reuters.

The US air force said a Russian Su-27 fighter jet had struck the propeller of the "Reaper" surveillance drone on Tuesday, causing it to crash into the Black Sea in an incident condemned as "reckless" by the US military.

Recent Russian drone activity 

A Russian salvo of Iranian-made kamikaze drones was launched against Ukrainian targets for the first time in almost two weeks on Sunday, the UK Defense Ministry said in a March 1 intelligence update.

The Ukrainian Military had reportedly shot down 11 out of 14 Shahed-136 drones launched on February 26, nine of which were downed in Kyiv airspace.

The drones were likely launched from the Bryansk Oblast in Russia, the UK Defense Ministry assessed, indicating that the Kremlin had established a new launch site to allow better access to Kyiv. Previously, it said that the only observed launch site had been in the Krasnodar region.

Michael Starr contributed to this report.