British Defense Minister Ben Wallace urged Moscow to respect international airspace, following the United States' claim that Russia caused the crash of one of its drones in the Black Sea on Tuesday. Wallace told Reuters during the "DSEI" defense exhibition in Chiba near Tokyo, "The important thing here is that all parties respect international airspace, and we call on the Russians to do that... The Americans said they believe it was not professional."
The incident involved a Russian "Su-27" fighter and a U.S. military drone "MQ-9" and marks the first direct confrontation of its kind between the two powers since the Russian invasion of Ukraine over a year ago, threatening to escalate tensions between Washington and Moscow. Russia stated that it views the incident as a provocation.
The U.S. military described the incident as "reckless." U.S. Air Force General James Hecker told Reuters, "Our MQ-9 was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in its crash and total loss." He added, "In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians caused both aircraft to crash."
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stated that President Joe Biden had been informed of the details of the incident, adding: "The drone incident was unsafe, unprofessional, and reckless."
For its part, the Russian Ministry of Defense commented on the collision incident over the Black Sea, denying that its pilots targeted the drone. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that an American drone was heading toward the airspace of Crimea in the Black Sea and toward the Russian border, prompting two Russian fighters to take off to intercept it.
It noted that the Russian pilots did not come into contact with the drone, indicating that it fell after losing its balance in the air and altitude due to a sharp maneuver before crashing into the water. Russian and American aircraft have operated over the Black Sea for years, but this is the first direct military contact.
