Russia awards fighter pilots involved in US drone crash
US officials say surveillance flights over the Black Sea have resumed despite Russia shooting down an MQ-9 Reaper drone.
Russia has awarded a state award to two fighter pilots involved in shooting down a US surveillance drone that crashed in the Black Sea.
award prizes on friday Su-27 jet fighter pilotRussian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has praised his efforts to stop drone flights into areas near Crimea that Moscow has banned access to.
“The drone flew with its transponder turned off, violating the territorial boundaries of the temporary airspace regime established for special military operations. [and] In a statement, the Russian Defense Ministry notified all users of international airspace, according to the Moscow Times.
Sergey Markov, a pro-Kremlin political analyst, said the award to the pilot “clearly demonstrates that Russia will continue to shoot down US drones.”
“This decision will receive strong support from Russian society, who want the government to strengthen its policies,” Markov wrote in a comment.
Award ceremony in Russia US military liberation Declassified 42-second video showing a Russian Su-27 fighter intercepting a drone and passing by while dumping fuel to damage the drone’s optics and other high-tech equipment clip.
The US military said it was forced to abandon its MQ-9 Reaper drone in the Black Sea after one of the Russian jets struck the drone’s propeller while flying in international airspace. denies causing physical damage to the U.S. drone, claiming it crashed during a sharp maneuver.
US officials say recovery of the rest of what has been completed will be difficult For the depths of the Black SeaBut Russian state media reported that the Russian navy had found the wreckage of the drone at a depth of 850-900 meters, about 60 kilometers from the Crimean port city of Sevastopol, according to the Moscow Times.
Moscow and Washington initially exchanged strong words over the drone incident, but the United States has sought to defuse tensions by declaring it unclear whether the Russian pilots intentionally attacked the drone. seemed to be
Russian officials also stressed the need to maintain lines of communication with Washington after the incident, while also conducting surveillance flights at the border and sharing military intelligence with Ukraine that would be used to attack Russian forces. He severely condemned the United States for what he shared.
U.S. officials said Friday that drone flights over the Black Sea have already resumed.
An RQ-4 Global Hawk flew a mission to the region on Friday, two officials told Reuters.