US drone crash incident a ‘provocation’, says Russian envoy – latest

A Russian fighter jet has forced a US drone flying over international waters in the Black Sea out of the sky, according to US officials, my colleague Josh Marcus reports.

US Air Force General James B Hecker of the branch’s Europe command told CNN in a statement that a Russian Su-27 aircraft performed a “reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional” set of maneuvers, dumping fuel and damaging the propeller of a US Air Force MQ-9 “Reaper” drone, forcing US officials to bring the craft down.

Aircraft from both countries have operated over the Black Sea, which borders Russian and Ukraine, since the former fully invaded the latter in February 2022.

You can refresh our breaking story below for updates:

The United States has summoned Russia’s ambassador to Washington after a US surveillance drone fell into the Black Sea after being intercepted by Russian fighter jets.

While Moscow denied that its jets had come into contact with the drone, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that diplomat Anatoly Antonov had been summoned for a meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

The US ambassador to Moscow has conveyed a strong message to Russia’s foreign affairs ministry, while and U. officials have briefed allies and partners about the incident, Mr Price told reporters.

“We are engaging directly with the Russians, again at senior levels, to convey our strong objections to this unsafe, unprofessional intercept, which caused the downing of the unmanned US aircraft,” Mr Price said.

Russia views the incident involving one of its Su-27 fighter jet and a US military drone over the Black Sea as provocation, its ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said today.

“The American UAV deliberately and provocatively was moving towards Russian territory with transponders turned off,” Mr Antonov said in remarks posted on his embassy’s website, referring to the drone as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

“We view this incident as a provocation,” he told Russian agencies yesterday after being summoned by the US State Department.

Moscow has also denied any contact with the drone and says that the aerial vehicle crashed after “sharp maneuvering”.

“The unacceptable activity of the US military in the close proximity to our borders is a cause for concern,” Mr Antonov said.

He added: “They are collecting intelligence, which is subsequently used by the Kyiv regime to strike at our armed forces and territory.”

The Russian defence ministry said the US drone was flying near the Russian border and intruded in an area that was declared off limits by Russian authorities.

It claimed that “as a result of sharp maneuver, the US drone went into uncontrollable flight with a loss of altitude and collided with water surface” amid reports that Russian military scrambled fighters to intercept the American drone.

Russia has declared broad areas near Crimea off limits to flights.

The ministry said the Russian aircraft were scrambled to intercept the drone but did not use weapons on it or impact it.

Nations routinely operate in international airspace and waters, and no country can claim limits on territory outside of its own border.

When a Russian fighter jet collided with a large US surveillance drone over the Black Sea yesterday, it was a rare but serious incident that triggered a US diplomatic protest and raised concerns about the possibility Russia could recover sensitive technology.

The US and Russian officials had conflicting accounts of the collision between the MQ-9 Reaper drone and the Russian Su-27 fighter jet — each blaming the other. But a Pentagon spokesperson raised the possibility that the defence department could eventually declassify and release video it has of the collision.

Read the full story here:

The UK’s ambassador to Ukraine said she was “channelling” the beleaguered nation by wearing blue and yellow at Buckingham Palace where she was made a dame, reports Ted Hennessey.

Melinda Simmons, the ambassador in Kyiv, said it was “extraordinary” to receive her honour from the King and an opportunity to highlight the ongoing Russian invasion.

Dame Melinda spoke to King Charles on Tuesday about the bravery of the Ukrainian people as she received her damehood for services to British foreign policy.

British defence secretary Ben Wallace has urged Moscow to respect international airspace, after the United States said that Russia had caused one of its drones to crash into the Black Sea yesterday.

“The key here is that all parties respect international air space and we urge the Russians to do so,” Mr Wallace said.

He added: “The Americans have said they think it is unprofessional.”

A Russian Su-27 fighter jet fighter plane and a US military MQ-9 drone collided over Black Sea, making this the first such direct encounter between the two powers since Russia invaded Ukraine over a year ago and risks deepening tensions between Washington and Moscow.

Russia has dubbed the incident as provocation.

Russia has denied that its aircraft came into contact with a US drone which fell into the Black Sea.

According to US Air Force General James Hecker, the surveillance drone “was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft”.

But Russia’s defence ministry said the drone went into the water as a result of its own “sharp maneuvering”, adding: “The Russian fighters did not use their onboard weapons, did not come into contact with the UAV, and returned safely to their home airfield.”

Labour has been criticised after claiming Gary Lineker being taken off air at the BBC for tweeting something “the government doesn’t like” sounds like “Putin’s Russia”.

Shadow culture secretary Lucy Powell’s remarks were branded “distasteful” by culture minister Julia Lopez, who also labelled it a “disgraceful comparison” given Russian president Vladimir Putin’s actions.