Russia to award pilots involved in US spy drone incident over Black Sea

Russia insists that its fighter jet did not come into contact with the spy drone, claiming instead that the drone crashed due to "sharp maneuvering."

 A Russian Su-27 military aircraft dumps fuel while flying by a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 "Reaper" drone over the Black Sea, March 14, 2023 (photo credit: US EUROPEAN COMMAND/THE PENTAGON/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
A Russian Su-27 military aircraft dumps fuel while flying by a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 "Reaper" drone over the Black Sea, March 14, 2023
(photo credit: US EUROPEAN COMMAND/THE PENTAGON/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

Russia will award the pilots involved in an altercation with a US military spy drone over the Black Sea, causing it to crash into the water, Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu announced on Friday.

According to Washington, the Russian pilots of a Su-27 fighter jet struck the propeller of a US military MQ-9 "Reaper" surveillance drone, with White House spokesperson John Kirby calling the incident "unsafe and unprofessional."

Russia insisted that the fighter jet did not come into contact with the spy drone, claiming instead that the drone crashed due to "sharp maneuvering."

Now, the Russian defense ministry will look to honor the pilots involved in the incident with state awards.

US releases footage of Russian jet intercepting MQ-9 Reaper drone (US AIR FORCE/VIA REUTERS)

Pentagon shows footage of Black Sea incident

On Thursday, the Pentago released footage of the incident over the Black Sea, the first direct US-Russian incident since the Ukraine war began.

In the video, the Russian fighter jet comes very close to the US MQ-9 drone and dumps fuel near it, in what US officials say was an apparent effort to damage the American aircraft as it flew over the Black Sea.

It also shows the loss of the video feed after another close Russian maneuver, which the Pentagon says resulted from the Russian jet's collision with the drone. It ends with images of the drone's damaged propeller, which the Pentagon says resulted from the collision, making the aircraft inoperable.

The video, which is about 40 seconds long, has been edited by the US military for length but shows events in a sequential order, the Pentagon said.