Moscow –
Minister of Defense (Menhan) Russia Sergei Shoigu give credit to pilot two jet tempur Su-27 involved in an incident with a military drone United States of America (USA) in the Black Sea.
The award was given because, according to the Kremlin, the fighter pilots didn’t let up drone AS violated the restricted airspace established by Moscow during its operations over Ukraine.
As reported Reuters and news agency TASSFriday (17/3/2023), Shoigu ordered awards for the pilots of the two fighter jets that had intercepted a US spy drone over a restricted area in the Black Sea during a special military operation launched in Ukraine.
“Russian Minister of Defense Military General Sergei Shoigu has issued an order to award state awards to pilots of Su-27 aircraft who do not allow the US MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle to violate restricted airspace for use during special military operations,” it said. Russian Ministry of Defense statement.
The Russian Ministry of Defense also emphasized that the restricted airspace had been previously notified to all international airspace users and published in accordance with international norms.
The US accused the Russian fighter jet of interfering with and crashing the drone MQ-9 Reaper his airborne in international airspace over the Black Sea until it fell on Tuesday (14/3) local time.
Moscow denies the accusations and insists there was no collision at all. It was also claimed by Russia that its fighter jet did not make physical contact with the US drone and that the military drone crashed after a sharp maneuver.
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(nvc/ita)