“We have to be very cautious with our actions”. These are the words of the Russian ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonov. Although he assures that they do not want a confrontation, qualified as “provocation” the maneuvers of the American drone. From the Pentagon they insist that the Russian fighter hit him in a “reckless” way. Russia denies it.
The Russian ambassador in Washington, Anatoly Antonovhas described the maneuvers of a US drone over the waters of the Black Sea as “provocation” after a Russian Air Force SU-27 fighter collided with the unmanned vehicle.
He maintains that “this is a real provocation. This provoked us to carry out certain actions after which one could blame Russia or the Russian Army for some kind of lack of professionalism”according to the TASS news agency.
It further reiterates that the aircraft was flying with the transponders turned offa few words that he offered to the press after being summoned by the US State Department.
According to the command of the US forces, one of the Russian fighters that flew over the Black Sea hit one of the drone’s propellerswhich led the US authorities to shoot it down at sea.
Following this incident, Washington warned that Russia is following “a pattern of dangerous actions.” “This unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians almost caused the two aircraft to crash.. US and allied aircraft will continue to operate in international airspace and we ask the Russians to conduct themselves professionally and safely,” said General James B. Hecker, commander of the US Air Forces in Europe and Africa.
