Tension rises and the danger of escalation between Washington and Moscow rises after a Russian jet intercepted and shot down an American spy drone in the Black Sea.
It is the first incident of its kind since the war broke out in Ukraine, which raises the risk of an expansion of the conflict, because a mistake or a poorly calculated maneuver is enough to ignite the spiral of retaliation.
According to reports from the Pentagon, two Russian Su-27 fighter jets intercepted an American MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone and one of them struck its propeller, causing it to crash into the Black Sea. Before the collision, the two jets several times they flew in front of the drone and also dumped fuel on it, perhaps to damage or blind it.
"Our aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace, this dangerous and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash," said US Air Force General James Hecker.
Moscow's version is different: "Our jets took off because the drone was flying with the transponders turned off towards the Russian border, but they did not use weapons or make contact. Following abrupt maneuvers, the drone went into uncontrolled flight, lost altitude and collided with the surface of the water.
Washington condemned the episode which "risks starting an escalation" and summoned the Russian ambassador Anatoly Antonov, who described the reconnaissance mission of the US aircraft as a "provocation". Russia is calling on the US to end what it calls "unacceptable military activities near Russia's borders".
In a telephone briefing, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby recalled that it is not unusual for the US and Russia to have high-altitude aerial confrontations against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. “There have been other similar intercepts, although this one is notable because it was dangerous and unprofessional and resulted in the downing of a US aircraft, so it is unique in that respect. We don't know what the Russian intention was, but if the message was to exercise deterrence against our overflights in international airspace over the Black Sea it is doomed to fail,” he warned.
(Unioneonline/L)
