Thu 16 March 2023:
The European Command of the United States military on Thursday (March 16) released the footage of the critical encounter which happened between an American surveillance drone and Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Russia has denied the accusations levelled by the US that its jets acted recklessly. Moscow said that the drone crashed after making “sharp manoeuvres”, having “provocatively” flown close to Russian air space near Crimea.
A ministry statement said that the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told his US counterpart that the American drone flights near Crimea’s coast “were provocative in nature” and could lead to “an escalation … in the Black Sea zone”.
General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday: “There is a pattern of behaviour recently where there is a little bit more aggressive actions being conducted by the Russians.”
General Milley further added that it was unclear whether the Russian pilots had intended to strike the drone. But the incident was seen as the first direct encounter between the world’s leading nuclear powers since the Ukraine war began last year in February.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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