Moscow Says US Military Drone Enters Special Military Operation Air Zone, White House: We Don't Need To Check-in With Russia

JAKARTA - A White House spokesman said US President Joe Biden had been given an explanation regarding the incident of the crash of the country's military MQ-9 drone in the Black Sea, saying it did not need to inform Russia if it wanted to fly in international territory, when Russia said the drone entered the airspace area of a special military operation.

Two Russian Su-27 fighter jets did what the US military described as reckless interception of American spy crewed aircraft. It said Russian fighter jets dumped fuel into MQ-9 - perhaps trying to blind or damage it - and fly in front of it with unsafe maneuvers.

After about 30 to 40 minutes, at 7:03 a.m. (06:03 a.m. GMT), one of the fighter jets then collided with the drone, causing it to fall, the US military said.

Despite other similar interceptions, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby stressed that this interception was noteworthy because it was "unsafe and unprofessional" and caused the US plane to crash.

"So this is different in that regard," Kirby said.

"We have flown over the airspace consistently for a year...and we will continue to do so," Kirby continued.

"We don't need to do some kind of check-in with Russia before flying in international airspace. There is no need to do that and we also don't do it," he stressed.

Although the United States did not deploy warships in the Black Sea, they routinely fly reconnaissance aircraft around the area.

Such aircraft will most likely be used to gather US intelligence linked to the war in Ukraine, one of the largest contributions the West has made to Kyiv in its bid to expel the invading Russian troops.

The US military said the incident followed the pattern of malicious behavior carried out by Russian pilots operating near planes flown by the US and its allies.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense said the US-owned MQ-9 drone was detected by their airspace surveillance near the Crimean Peninsula, violating the boundaries of the interim airspace regime set during special operations.

"On March 14, 2023 in the morning, Russia's airspace control system detected an American MQ-9 drone flying over the Black Sea near the Crimean Peninsula towards the border of the Russian Federation state," the ministry said, citing TASS.

"The unmanned aircraft flew with the engine turned off, violated the limits of the interim airspace regime set for special military operations, (which) communicated to all users of international airspace, and published in accordance with international standards," the ministry continued.

According to the ministry, after carrying out a sudden maneuver, the drone "flyed undirected by losing altitude and hitting the surface of the water."

"Russian planes do not use weapons, do not come into contact with drones and return safely to their air bases," the ministry said.

The Black Sea is located between Europe and Asia and borders several countries, including Ukraine. The Russian ministry said the drone was detected over the sea near the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.