Russian jet collides with US drone over Black Sea, officials say
ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore reports from Washington
Military officials in the US have said its Air Force has been forced to bring down one of its drones in international waters after it collided with a Russian fighter jet.
The US European Command said in a statement that two Russian Su-27 fighter jets "conducted an unsafe and unprofessional intercept" of a MQ-9 drone, belonging to Washington, which was operating within international airspace over the Black Sea.
It said one of the Russian fighters "struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing US forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down", adding that 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," it added.
According to the US European Command, Tuesday's incident followed a pattern of dangerous actions by Russian pilots while interacting with US and Allied aircraft over international airspace, including over the Black Sea.
US General David Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, said that this type of collision is his greatest concern, both in that area of Europe as well as in the Pacific.
"Probably my biggest worry both there and in the Pacific is an aggressive Russia or China pilot or vessel captain, or something gets too close, doesn’t realize where they are, and causes a collision," he said, in response to a question at a National Press Club event.
General Berger added that whether an incident is intentional or not, it forces nations' leaders to try and sort it out quickly from afar.
Washington Correspondent Robert Moore explains what is so far known about the incident
White House National Security spokesman John Kirby said US President Joe Biden was briefed on the incident by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow, which has repeatedly voiced concern about US intelligence flights close to the Crimean Peninsula. Russia illegally annexed the region from Ukraine in 2014.
Amid the continuing fighting in Ukraine, a Russian missile struck an apartment building in the centre of Kramatorsk on Tuesday.
The attack killed at least one person and wounded nine others in one of Ukraine's major city strongholds, which lies in the eastern Donetsk region.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video showing gaping holes in the facade of the low-rise building, which bore the brunt of the strike.
The Ukrainian general prosecutor's office and regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, also reported on the attack, posting photos of the building with mounds of rubble in front of it.
Elsewhere, Ukrainian troops are continuing to hold out in the devastated eastern city of Bakhmut, where Kyiv's troops have been fending off Russian attacks for seven months.
The city has become a symbol of Ukraine's resistance, as well as a focal point of the war.
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