Russian fighter collides with U.S. drone over Black Sea

A Russian fighter jet struck the propeller of an MQ-9 drone Tuesday morning, forcing its military flight crew to drive the drone into the water, the United States said. Russia said it had scrambled fighter jets to intercept the drone, which they said was flying in airspace Russian authorities had previously declared off-limits. Russia’s Air Defense Ministry said the jets did not hit the drone or use weapons against it. Russia also claimed the drone went down after it executed a sharp maneuver.

What does this mean and what happens now? State Department spokesman Ned Price called the act a “brazen violation” of international law. Moscow has repeatedly expressed concern about U.S. intelligence flights near the Crimean Peninsula. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday’s incident would not stop the U.S. from continuing missions “in international airspace over international waters.”

Dig deeper: Read Evgeny Kosykh’s report in WORLD Magazine about the Russian paramilitary Wagner Group.