Russia warns US to stop ‘hostile’ flights after MQ-9 Reaper drone crash over Black Sea
- Moscow’s envoy to the US called on Washington to halt flights near Russian borders as tensions simmered over the incident
- The Kremlin said it will try to retrieve the drone, while the White House added the aircraft may never be recovered given the depth of the Black Sea
US European Command said two Russian Su-27 fighters intercepted the unstaffed MQ-9 Reaper over international waters on Tuesday and one clipped its propeller.
Washington blamed Moscow for the incident, calling its fighters’ conduct reckless and unprofessional, but Russia has denied any wrongdoing.
“We assume that the United States will refrain from further speculation in the media and stop flights near Russian borders,” Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said on Wednesday.
“We consider any action with the use of US weaponry as openly hostile,” he wrote on social media channel Telegram.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters there had been no high-level contact with Washington over the incident. He said bilateral relations were “at their lowest point, in a very lamentable state” but that “at the same time, Russia has never refused constructive dialogue, and is not refusing now”.
