In Russia, they want to remove the wreckage of the MQ-9 Reaper drone from the Black Sea, which shot down a Russian fighter the day before. The Kremlin accused the United States of allegedly direct participation in the war in Ukraine.

This statement was made by the Secretary of the Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev. His words are quoted by the Russian media, Channel 24 reports .

Russia wants to pick up the wreckage of a drone from the Black Sea

Nikolay Patrushev said that Russia will try to raise the wreckage of an American drone shot down on March 14 over the Black Sea. It is worth noting that, according to preliminary data, it fell not far from the southwestern coast of the temporarily occupied Crimea.

At the same time, the secretary of the Russian Security Council decided to use the drone situation to allegedly justify the US participation in the war against Ukraine, although the UAV flew over the international waters of the Black Sea and patrolled NATO borders, since three Black Sea countries are members of the Alliance at once – Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey.

The situation with the American drone confirmed that the United States is directly involved in the hostilities in Ukraine,” Patrushev said cynically.

At the same time, the director of the Russian foreign intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, said that the aggressor country allegedly has every opportunity to pick up the wreckage of the drone.

Austin's reaction to the incident

According to CNN, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said ahead of the Rammstein meeting on March 15 that the United States would continue patrolling NATO's borders in accordance with international law. At the same time, the US Secretary of Defense called the beating of the drone by the Russians a dangerous episode.

This dangerous episode is part of a pattern of aggressive, risky and dangerous activities in international airspace. But rest assured that the United States will continue to fly and operate where international law allows. And Russia has an obligation to operate as a military aviation safely and professionally,” Austin stressed.

Recall that on March 14, over the Black Sea, a Russian Su-27 fighter probably crashed into the propeller of an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, causing the UAV to fall into the water. There is another version that Russian fighters dropped fuel on the drone to prevent it from working. Everything that is known about this incident, we have collected in one material.