Russian defence ministry gives state awards to fighter pilots involved in US drone crash incident: Report
The US military said it ditched the Air Force MQ-9 Reaper in the Black Sea on Tuesday after a pair of Russian fighter jets dumped fuel on the surveillance drone and then one of them struck its propeller while it was flying in international airspace.
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FollowThe Russian Defense Ministry on Friday (March 17) announced that fighter pilots that were involved in an encounter with a US drone that resulted in its crash were given state awards. The move appears to signal Moscow's intention to adopt a more aggressive stance toward future US surveillance flights.
In a statement, the ministry said, "Russia's defence minister Sergei Shoigu presented state awards to the Su-27 pilots who prevented an American MQ-9 drone from violating (Russia's) temporary airspace."
The US military said it ditched the Air Force MQ-9 Reaper in the Black Sea on Tuesday after a pair of Russian fighter jets dumped fuel on the surveillance drone and then one of them struck its propeller while it was flying in international airspace.
Moscow has denied that its warplanes hit the drone, alleging that it crashed while making a sharp maneuver. It said that its warplanes reacted to a violation of a no-flight zone Russia has established in the area near Crimea amid the fighting in Ukraine.
On Friday, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu lauded the pilots for preventing the drone from flying into the area that Moscow has banned for flights. The Defense Ministry said the ban was "in line with international norms."
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Moscow reiterated its stance that the pilots "did not use on-board weapons, made no contact with the UAV and safely returned to their home airfield."
The Russian Defence Ministry denied that its aircraft made contact with the US drone. Instead, Russia asserted that the drone was flying in the direction of Russia's borders with its transponder off, suggesting that Russia found the flight suspicious.
In addition, Russia said, the US drone violated the temporary boundaries that Russia had established for its operations against Ukraine and crashed on its own.
In light of Russia's past misrepresentations about its military activities during its invasion of Ukraine, I view Russia's assertions with skepticism.
(With inputs from PTI)
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