AFU Reacts To Incident With MQ-9 Reaper Over The Black Sea And Gives New Details

The clash took place near Snake Island.

The incident with a Russian Su-27 fighter jet and an MQ-9 Reaper UAV of the US Air Forces took place in international airspace southeast of Snake Island. Another UAV is already operating there currently instead of the downed reconnaissance drone. Colonel Yuri Ihnat, The speaker of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told about it.

“The US has its aviation over the Black Sea on permanent duty. The Black Sea is not the inland sea of Russia, as they occupied the Sea of Azov there, and consider they own it. The Black Sea is exploited by many countries, including NATO members Turkey and Romania. There is international airspace over it and aircraft, including reconnaissance aircraft, can fly there freely (...). The United States reacted immediately: another UAV took off on duty there, and it’s working,” Ukrainska Pravda quotes Mr Ihnat.

The speaker noted that the Russians have publicly stressed more than once that they are annoyed by American intelligence crafts in the Black Sea and in the airspace of Ukraine.

According to the speaker of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, during the hybrid aggression of the Russian Federation, long before the full-scale invasion, the US UAVs monitored the Black Sea and the demarcation line of the Temporarily Russian-Occupied Territories of Ukraine (ORDLO). Previously, the MQ-4 Global Hawk was constantly in the airspace of Ukraine according to an agreement with the Ukrainian authorities: it was monitoring the situation and ceasefire fulfillment, etc.

The United States also uses reconnaissance aircraft in the Black Sea to control the situation, provide stability and support NATO partners and allies in the region: RC-135 and H10 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft.