Pentagon Accuses ‘Reckless’ Russian Jet of Crashing into U.S. Drone

The U.S. was forced to bring down one of its own drones on Tuesday after a Russia fighter jet collided with the drone’s propellor over the Black Sea, the Pentagon announced.

“At approximately 7:03 AM (CET), one of the Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters. Several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner. This incident demonstrates a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional,” U.S. Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker said in a statement.

CNN reports that an official familiar with the incident explained that the MQ-9 Reaper drone and two Russian SU-27 fighter jets were operating over the Black Sea when one of the jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel on the drone.

President Biden was briefed on the incident Tuesday morning.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated.