RUSSIAN fighter pilots involved in an incident with a U.S. drone that resulted in its crash will be given state awards, the Defense Ministry announced Friday.
The move appears to signal Moscow’s intention to adopt a more aggressive stance toward future U.S. surveillance flights.
The U.S. military said it ditched the Air Force MQ-9 Reaper in the Black Sea on Tuesday after a pair of Russian fighter jets dumped fuel on the surveillance drone and then one of them struck its propeller while it was flying in international airspace.
Moscow has denied that its warplanes hit the drone, alleging that it crashed while making a sharp manoeuvre. It said that its aircraft reacted to a violation of a no-flight zone Russia has established in the area near Crimea amid the fighting in Ukraine.
On Friday, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu lauded the pilots for preventing the drone from flying into the area that Moscow has banned for flights. The Defense Ministry emphasized that the ban was “in line with international norms.”
Moscow’s announcement comes a day after the U.S. military released a declassified 42-second colour footage showing a Russian Su-27 fighter jet approaching the back of the U.S. drone and releasing fuel as it passes in what appeared to be aimed at blinding the drone’s optical instruments to drive it from the area.
