The Secretary of Defense, Lloyd J Austindeclared on Wednesday that The United States will continue to carry out surveillance flights after an American drone was attacked by a Russian warplane and shot down over the Black Sea.
“Do not get wrong, The United States will continue to fly and operate where international law allows.Austin said in remarks at the start of a virtual gathering of some 50 nations supporting Ukraine’s efforts in the war against Russia.
“This dangerous episode is part of a pattern of aggressive actions, risky and unsafe by Russian pilots in international airspace,” Austin said. “It is incumbent on Russia to operate its military aircraft in a safe and professional manner.”
The incident, the first known physical contact between the Russian and US militaries since the war in Ukraine began, has raised tensions between the superpowers, although there were signs on Wednesday that both nations were trying to contain the fallout.
According to United States Air Force in Europe, two Russian fighters su-27 they intercepted a drone MQ-9 Reapers in international waters on Tuesday and the maneuvers of one of the planes led to an accident and the “loss” of the drone.
The United States blamed Russia of the incident and described the action of the Russian planes as “reckless” and unprofessional.
But Russia denies any mistake and the Russian ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, called US flights near the Russian borders “hostile”. According to Moscow, the accident occurred “in the area of the Crimean peninsula”, a Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in 2014, when that drone was advancing “in the direction” of the Russian border.
This Wednesday, Russia announced its intention to recover the remains of the device that was flying near Ukraine, despite Washington’s warning against any attempt to seize the fragments.
“I don’t know if we will be able to recover it, but we have to try and we will work on it,” said the secretary of the Russian Security Council, Nikolai Patrushevin televised statements.
The head of the Russian intelligence service SVR, Sergei Naryshkinindicated that the country has the “technical” capacity to recover the drone.
White House Homeland Security spokesman John Kirbycriticized Russia for refusing to take responsibility for the crash and indicated that the United States is trying to recover the remains of the drone.
“Obviously we don’t want to see anybody getting their hands on it other than us,” Kirby said. “We have taken steps to protect our interests,” he added.
The United States uses the drone MQ-9 Reapers for both surveillance and attack purposes and has long operated in the Black Sea to examine the presence of Russian naval forces.
Reapers can be armed with missiles hellfireas well as laser-guided bombs, and can fly more than 1,770 kilometers at altitudes of up to 15,000 meters, according to the US Air Force.
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Source-www.infobae.com