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Russia will try to retrieve the wreckage of the US MQ-9 Reaper drone in the Black Sea. Photos/Illustrations
MOSCOW – Russia will try to find and recover the remains of military drones United States of America (USA) that fell in the Black Sea. This was stated by Secretary of the Russian Security Council and former head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Nikolai Patrushev.
At one point, Patrushev said Russia would try to get hold of the wreckage of a US MQ-9 drone that crashed into the Black Sea to study it.
“I don’t know if we can get it or not, but we have to. And we will definitely check it,” Patrushev said on Russia’s state TV station Rossiya 1.
“Regarding the drones, America continues to say that they are not participating in hostilities. This is another confirmation that they are directly involved in these events, in the war,” he added as quoted by CNN, Thursday (16/3/2023).
Patrushev said Russia was already responding to such acts.
“We must defend our independence and sovereignty,” he said.
Earlier White House spokesman John Kirby said the United States (US) military reconnaissance drone that crashed into the Black Sea after being intercepted by Russian fighter jets had not and may never be found.
“We are doing the best we can to minimize the value of any intelligence that may come from other people getting hold of the drone,” he said.
The Pentagon said a Russian Su-27 fighter jet hit the drone’s propeller, rendering it inoperable. This is the first such incident since the Ukrainian war began, exacerbating already strained relations between Washington and Moscow.
Russia’s Defense Ministry blamed the US drone’s “sharp maneuvers” for the crash and said its jet did not make contact.
(ian)
