By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Olena Harmash
WASHINGTON/KYIV, March 15 (Reuters) – The U.S. navy stated a Russian fighter airplane clipped the propeller of 1 its spy drones and made it crash into the Black Sea on Tuesday within the first such direct encounter between the 2 world powers since Russia invaded Ukraine over a 12 months in the past.
The Russian defence ministry provided a distinct account and Moscow’s ambassador to Washington stated his nation “views this incident as a provocation” involving a U.S. MQ-9 drone and Russian Su-27 fighter jet.
The USA, which has offered tens of billions of {dollars} in navy assist to Ukraine, has not turn out to be immediately engaged within the warfare but it surely does conduct common surveillance flights within the area.
In the meantime, Ukrainian President Voldoymyr Zelenskiy stated on Tuesday evening that navy commanders had been unanimously in favour of defending the jap frontline, together with the ruined metropolis of Bakhmut, which has been underneath siege by Russia for months.
“The primary focus was on … Bakhmut,” Zelenskiy stated in his nightly video handle. “There was a transparent place of your entire command: Strengthen this sector and destroy the occupiers to the utmost.”
Zelenskiy dismissed three regional governors, together with Luhansk within the east, Odesa on the Black Sea within the south and Khnelnitskiy area within the west, however no motive was given within the announcement by the federal government’s parliamentary consultant.
On the diplomatic and financial fronts, talks continued to increase a deal to permit grain shipments from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports that is because of expire this week, the United Nations and Turkey stated. The Kyiv authorities rejected a Russian push for a 60-day renewal, half the time period of the earlier renewal.
DRONE CRASH
Two Russian Su-27 jets carried out what the U.S. navy described as a reckless intercept of the American spy drone whereas flying in worldwide air area. It stated the Russian fighter jets dumped gas on the MQ-9 – probably making an attempt to blind or injury it – and flew in entrance of it in unsafe manoeuvres.
After round 30 to 40 minutes, at 7:03 a.m. (0603 GMT), one of many jets then collided with the drone, inflicting it to crash, the U.S. navy stated.
Russia has not recovered the drone and the jet was probably broken, the Pentagon stated.
“In actual fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians almost precipitated each plane to crash,” U.S. Air Drive Basic James Hecker, who oversees the U.S. Air Drive within the area, stated in a press release.
Russia’s defence ministry denied that its plane had come into contact with the unmanned aerial automobile (UAV), which it stated had crashed after “sharp manoeuvring”. It stated the drone had been detected close to the Crimea peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
“The Russian fighters didn’t use their onboard weapons, didn’t come into contact with the UAV and returned safely to their house airfield,” the defence ministry stated.
The accounts of the incident within the Black Sea, which is bordered by Russia and Ukraine amongst different international locations, couldn’t be independently verified.
“It is a very delicate stage on this battle as a result of it truly is the primary direct contact that the general public is aware of about between the West and Russia,” stated Elisabeth Braw, a senior fellow on the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.
RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR SUMMONED
Russia’s Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov was summoned by the U.S. State Division to debate what occurred over the Black Sea, stated spokesperson Ned Worth.
Antonov stated his assembly was “constructive” and the problem of doable “penalties” for Moscow was not raised, RIA state information company reported.
“As for us, we don’t want any confrontation between the USA and Russia. We’re in favour of constructing pragmatic relations for the advantage of the Russian and American peoples,” Antonov was quoted as saying.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has framed Moscow’s “particular navy operation” in Ukraine as a defensive one in opposition to what he sees as a hostile West bent on increasing into territories traditionally dominated by Russia.
Ukraine and its Western allies say Moscow is waging an unprovoked warfare of conquest that has destroyed Ukrainian cities, killed hundreds of individuals and compelled tens of millions extra to flee their properties.
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(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; writing by Grant McCool; Modifying by Cynthia Osterman)
((grant.mccool@thomsonreuters.com;))
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