US releases footage of Black Sea drone incident with Russian jet

By Emre Basaran

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Pentagon on Thursday released a video of the incident involving a US military surveillance drone and a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea two days ago.

The US European Command said the 42-second "declassified footage" is of a Russian Su-27 aircraft conducting an "unsafe" and "unprofessional" intercept of a US Air Force MQ-9 in international airspace.

"Russian Su-27s dumped fuel upon and struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters," the excerpt added.

The US on Tuesday had alleged that the Russian fighter jet struck its drone, forcing US operators to bring it down. Russia, however, said “sharp maneuvering” by the drone led to the crash, claiming its jet did not make contact.