JAKARTA - The United States Department of Defense (Pentagon) on Thursday released a video showing a Russian military jet intercepting a US drone that was dropped over the Black Sea two days ago, in a first direct contact between the two superpowers since the war. Ukraine began.
The Pentagon's rare move comes a day after the US and Russian Defense Ministers and military chiefs held telephone talks over the incident of the MQ-9 drone crash into the sea of k, ethics carrying out reconnaissance missions in international airspace.
In a declassified video of about 40 seconds, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet is very close to the drone, then dumps what US officials say is jet fuel nearby in a clear attempt to damage American drones while flying over the Black Sea.
The video also shows the loss of video footage after a Russian jet passed for the second time, which the Pentagon says was caused by a collision with the drone. The video ends with an image of the damaged drone propeller, which the Pentagon says was caused by the collision, so the aircraft cannot be operated.
Russia denies a collision and says the drone crashed after carrying out a "sharp maneuver", as it was "provocatively" flying near Russian airspace, near Crimea, which Moscow from Ukraine annexed in 2014.
"There has been a recent pattern of behavior where there have been slightly more aggressive actions taken by Russia," General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff on Wednesday.
General Milley said the interception and interference of the Russian drone was intentional, but it was unclear whether Russian pilots intended to crash their aircraft into a drone, an action that could also harm them.
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told his US counterpart the US drone flight near Crimea was "provocative" and could lead to an "escalation... in the Black Sea zone," the ministry said in a statement.
Russia, the statement said, was "not interested" in its escalation "but in the future it will react proportionally" and the two countries must "act with maximum responsibility", including by having military communication lines in a crisis.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin declined to provide details about his conversation with Shoigu, but said the United States would continue to "operation wherever international law permits. And it is Russia's obligation to operate its military aircraft in a safe and professional way".
Russia said this incident shows Washington directly participated in the Ukraine war, something the West really wanted to avoid.
"America continues to say that they are not taking part in military operations. This is the latest confirmation that they are directly participating in these activities - in war," Kremlin Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said.
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