On March 14, the Russians shot down an American drone over the Black Sea. The United States reacted to the situation rather restrainedly, as they are guided by a pragmatic approach to the situation.

This opinion was expressed by political strategist Mikhail Sheitelman to Channel 24 . According to him, it is clear that the Russian Su-27s shot down the American MQ-9 Reaper drone on purpose.

However, the United States limited itself to condemning such actions of the aggressor country and warned against provocations.

“Americans are pragmatists. What should they do – start a world war over this?” Sheitelman noted.

According to him, Washington has drawn certain conclusions from the situation for the future.

“What matters is the reaction not of Washington, but of ordinary Americans”

According to the political strategist, it is not so much the reaction of official Washington that is important, but ordinary Americans who saw the video of the downing of the UAV.

Americans are outraged that Russia encroached on a US drone. The reaction is, they say, but you are not insolent there? Sheitelman said.

According to him, among the supporters of the Republican Party, the question arose whether it was necessary to provide military assistance to Ukraine. After the MQ-9 Reaper incident , there were fewer people in the US who questioned the need to support Kiev .

“After that, no Donald Trump, who can conditionally come to power, will be able to say:“ This is not our war. The Russians need to be understood. “Ukraine has earned a lot of points on this,” the political consultant said.

Stream of Artem Ovdienko and Mikhail Sheitelman: watch the video

The Russians shot down a drone to give Putin

Sheitelman believes that the decision to shoot down the American UAV was made not personally by Vladimir Putin, but by the Russian military command.

Why attack now? Because they need to show at least some victories to the head of the Kremlin. The military happily reported to Putin that they had shot down a US drone,” the political strategist said.

He added that Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev had already announced his intentions. get the wreckage of the downed drone from the Black Sea.

“If this succeeds, then they will bring this drone to Putin as a gift. They could not give him Kharkov or Odessa, then I hope that at least with a drone it will work,” Sheitelman said.

Fighting groups in the Kremlin

The political consultant stressed that Russia does not have a single decision-making center like the Ukrainian Headquarters of the Supreme Commander.

In an aggressor country, everyone plays for himself. Moreover, in an attempt to surprise and please their boss in Russia, they do not think about further consequences.

I wouldn’t be surprised if this episode with the drone was played by some players in the Kremlin to harm others,” Sheitelman suggested.

He explained that the Kremlin has certain groups that can take steps in their own interests. At the same time, they are not worried that this harms not only their opponents, but also Russia globally.

“In addition to the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, one of the reasons for Russia's defeat in the war will be its own mistakes and attacks on itself,” Sheitelman said.

Beating the MQ-9 Reaper: latest news

• Sergei Shoigu awarded the Russian military for shooting down an American drone over the Black Sea. Su-27 pilots thanked “for protecting Russian borders”.
• At first, the Russians claimed that they were not involved in the drone incident. Now they've come up with a new excuse. Moscow said that allegedly Russian fighters took to the skies for patrols, and the MQ-9 Reaper drone went into uncontrollable flight, as a result of which it lost altitude and fell into the water.
• Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin spoke with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the incident over the Black Sea. He stressed that he conveyed one important message to the Russian Defense Minister – the United States will continue to fly where international law allows it.