Russia gives state awards to pilots behind US drone crash
The Russian government has honored the pilots involved in the harassment and crash of a US drone in international airspace.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presented state awards to the fighter jet pilots responsible for downing a US drone over the Black Sea earlier this week.
US video shows the moment Russian fighter jet collided with US drone
Russian President Vladimir Putin, right, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, attend a wreath-laying ceremony at the Eternal Flame and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden during an event marking Defender of the Fatherland Day in Moscow. (Pavel Bednyakov/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
In an official statement, the Ministry of Defense commended the pilots for preventing the drone from “violating the limits of the temporary airspace regime established for a special military operation”.
The statement accused American drones of flying with their transponders on.
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The US European Command on Thursday released video of the March 14 collision of a Russian Su-27 fighter jet with an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea. A screenshot shows a jet dumping fuel. (US European Command)
The Russian Defense Ministry stuck to its earlier claims that the plane did not touch the drone at any point, despite American video showing a jet clipped its propeller, causing the drone to crash into the Black Sea.
“The Russian aircraft did not use on-board weapons, did not come into contact with the unmanned aerial vehicle and safely returned to its home airspace,” the ministry said.
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The video shows a damaged propeller on a US MQ-9 drone that was shot down by a Russian Su-17 fighter jet over the Black Sea on March 14, 2023. (US European Command)
US Central Command has seen more “unprofessional” and “unsafe” behavior Russian pilot in Syria From March 1, a commander said on Thursday.
General Michael Kurilla told a meeting about the ongoing harassment of the US military in the region Senate Committee on Armed Services,
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Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, left, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attend a meeting of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin with his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad at the Kremlin in Moscow, March 15, 2023. (Vladimir Gardo/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images)
The general explained that the Russian aircraft have agreed to act aggressively toward American targets In a way not typical of an organized military force.
