A Russian jet struck the propeller of a U.S. Reaper drone over the Black Sea, forcing U.S. forces to bring down the drone, the Pentagon said, one of the first direct military confrontations between the two nations’ forces since the war in Ukraine began more than a year ago.
Before the collision, which occurred around 7 a.m. local time Tuesday, two Russian Su-27s “dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” the U.S. European Command said in a statement. “This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” said the EUCOM, which is responsible for U.S. military operations in the region.
After the collision, the U.S. brought down its drone. The drone was conducting “routine operations” over international airspace in the Black Sea, EUCOM said.
