U.S. releases video of Russian fighter jet intercepting drone over Black Sea

The U.S. army has launched newly declassified video it says exhibits a Russian fighter jet harassing and colliding with an American drone over the Black Sea.

The footage, launched Thursday morning by U.S. European Command and filmed from the drone’s on-board digital camera, exhibits a Russian Su-27 jet conducting what the U.S. calls an “unsafe/unprofessional intercept of a U.S. Air Drive MQ-9 in worldwide airspace” earlier this week.

U.S. officers earlier instructed NBC Information that Kremlin management had permitted the aggressive actions of the Russian jets in an obvious effort to throw the drone off beam or disable its surveillance capabilities. 

Russia has denied its planes got here “into contact” with the drone and stated the U.S. was accountable, warning Washington to stop “hostile” surveillance flights close to its borders to assist Ukraine. The incident is the primary identified direct confrontation between the 2 superpowers since Moscow invaded its neighbor final 12 months, and comes at a time of mounting tensions over Western assist for Kyiv.

Whereas the 43-second video has been edited for size and never verified by NBC Information, the U.S. army stated it exhibits the occasions in sequential order.

The Russian jet could be seen approaching the drone, earlier than it twice releases an extended plume of what seems to be gasoline into the air whereas passing. Then at 29 seconds into the video the jet could be seen showing to collide with the MQ-9 Reaper drone and the video feed is misplaced. When the feed is reestablished one of many drone’s propellers has been visibly broken.

Three U.S. officers acquainted with the related intelligence instructed NBC Information that the very best ranges of energy inside the Kremlin permitted the Russian fighter jets’ aggressive actions within the encounter.

It was the “Russian management’s intention to be aggressive within the intercept,” stated one of many officers, though one other stated he had not gotten indications that the signoff went all the way in which as much as President Vladimir Putin.

The officers stated Wednesday that judging from the video, the Russian jet clipping the propeller of the drone — which the U.S. says occurred and Russia denies — was possible not intentional and certain the results of pilot error.

Three protection officers and one Biden administration official additionally stated the Russians have already reached the world the place the MQ-9 Reaper crashed. The Russians are actively in search of the particles with ships and plane, however the U.S. hasn’t seen any indication that they’ve been capable of get well any of it, officers stated. One official stated a lot of the particles sank into the Black Sea.

Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Workers, stated at a information convention on Wednesday that there’s in all probability not lots of particles to get well and famous the a part of the Black Sea the place the drone landed is as a lot as 5,000-feet deep.

John Kirby, a spokesperson for the Nationwide Safety Council, stated in an interview with NBC Information that the Russians had been intentionally making an attempt to get near the drone.

“What we don’t know is how intentional the collision with the drone was,” Kirby stated. “It’s potential that this was only a reckless, incompetent piece of aviation by the pilot.”

Courtney Kube and Carol E. Lee contributed.