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Russian fighter jets dropping fuel on US drones over the Black Sea. Photo/pentagon/rt.com
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon released a video on Thursday (16/3/2023), which it says was taken from a US MQ-9 Reaper drone during a close encounter with a Russian Su-27 fighter jet.
The video was recorded moments before the American drone crashed into the Black Sea earlier this week.
The 50-second clip provided to the media shows the interceptor approaching the drone from behind and apparently expelling fuel as it ascends.
The Pentagon claims the Russian jet performed several such maneuvers on Tuesday, including one in which the drone’s tail propeller was allegedly hit and damaged.
The footage appears to show two of them, with the camera glitching twice.
The Russian Ministry of Defense denied there was a collision and claimed the US drone dived after performing a dangerous maneuver.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said the cause of the incident was a drone strike into a zone, which the Russian military declared off-limits because of the ongoing special military operations in Ukraine.
Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said potentially armed American aircraft should not fly near the Russian border.
The incident sparked new tensions between Russia and the US. The US senator also suggested countermeasures so that the Russian fighter jet was shot down.
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