The U.S. Central Command stated today, Thursday local time, that "Russian aircraft approached MQ-9 drones in an unprofessional manner in Syrian airspace," prompting U.S. aircraft to conduct "evasive maneuvers." Central Command released a video of the "encounter." U.S. Central Command's leader, General Michael "Eric" Kurilla, noted that "the continued actions of Russian forces demonstrating unsafe and unprofessional behavior in the air, and their regular violations of agreed-upon airspace conflict measures, increase the risk of escalation or miscalculation."
Central Command urged the Russian side in Syria to "cease this reckless behavior and adhere to the expected standards of conduct from a professional air force so we can refocus on the ultimate defeat of ISIS."
In response, the Russian Ministry of Defense asserted that "U.S. drones have violated the airspace of a joint Syrian-Russian military training area five times," stating that 12 violations by coalition drones have been recorded in the airspace of the training area. The Russian Ministry of Defense declared that Moscow is not responsible for uncoordinated operations of U.S. drones in Syrian airspace.
