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| Russia Trying to Retrieve the Remains of a US MQ-9 Drone That Crashed in the Black Sea |
Moscow - Russia will try to find and retrieve the remains of a United States (US) military drone that crashed in the Black Sea. This was stated by Secretary of the Russian Security Council and former head of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) Nikolai Patrushev.
At one point, Patrushev said Russia would try to get hold of the wreckage of a US MQ-9 drone that crashed into the Black Sea to study it. "I don't know if we can get it or not, but we have to. And we will definitely check it," Patrushev said on Russia's state TV station Rossiya 1.
“Regarding the drones, America continues to say that they are not participating in hostilities. This is another confirmation that they are directly involved in this event, in the war," he added as quoted by CNN
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Patrushev said Russia was already responding to such acts. "We must defend our independence and sovereignty," he said.
Earlier White House spokesman John Kirby said the US military reconnaissance drone that crashed into the Black Sea after being intercepted by a Russian fighter jet had not and probably never will be found.
"We are doing the best we can to minimize the value of any intelligence that may come from other people getting hold of the drone," he said.
Read Also: After MQ-9 Drone Crashes In Black Sea, Russia Hopes US Stops Flights Near Border
The Pentagon said a Russian Su-27 fighter jet hit the drone's propeller, rendering it inoperable. This is the first such incident since the Ukrainian war began, exacerbating already strained relations between Washington and Moscow. Russia's Defense Ministry blamed the US drone's "sharp maneuvers" for the crash and said its jet did not make contact.