STUTTGART, Germany (AP) — The U.S. military said a Russian fighter jet on Tuesday struck the propeller of a U.S. drone over the Black Sea, causing U.S. forces to bring it down in international waters.
The U.S. European Command said in a statement that two Russian Su-27 fighter jets “conducted an unsafe and unprofessional intercept” of a U.S. MQ-9 drone that was operating within international airspace over the Black Sea.
It said one of the Russian fighters “struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters,” adding that several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in “a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner.”
“This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” it added.
The incident comes amid soaring Russian-U.S. tensions over Moscow’s war in Ukraine.