In the most recent escalation of hostilities between the two countries, a Russian fighter plane has crashed with a U.S. drone. Tuesday’s incident occurred over the Black Sea, a defense official told Fox News.
“It was one of two Su-27’s flying. This happened in international airspace over international waters. The propeller to the drone was damaged and the drone landed in the Black Sea, west of Crimea, the U.S. defense official says. The Russian Su-27 was headed toward Crimea and landed there after this incident, the official says. It is unknown if there was any damage to the Su-27,” Fox News reported.
“A Russian fighter jet forced down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday after damaging the propeller of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone, according to a US official familiar with the incident. The Reaper drone and two SU-27 Flanker jets were operating over international waters over the Black Sea when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel in front of the unmanned drone, according to the official. One of the jets then damaged the propeller of the Reaper, which is mounted on the rear of the drone, the official said. The damage to the propeller forced the US to bring down the Reaper in international waters in the Black Sea,” CNN reported.
“At approximately 7:03 AM (CET), one of the Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters. 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,” US Air Force Gen. James B.Hecker, commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa said.
BREAKING: A Russian Su-27 jet collided with a U.S. Reaper drone over the Black Sea in international airspace over international waters.
— ALX 🇺🇸 (@alx) March 14, 2023
The Reaper drone and two SU-27 Flanker jets were operating over international waters over the Black Sea when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel in front of the unmanned drone, according to the official. https://t.co/siz8GFhg7j
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) March 14, 2023
This comes after Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, was praised this week for his remarks on the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Tucker Carlson, a Fox News personality, submitted a questionnaire to DeSantis, former President Donald Trump, and all prominent potential Republican presidential candidates last week. DeSantis answered by criticizing President Joseph Biden’s support for Ukraine and arguing that it is not “essential” for the United States to aid Ukraine in repelling the Russian assault.
“While the U.S. has many vital national interests – securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party – becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,” DeSantis said in a statement.
“The Biden administration’s virtual ‘blank check’ funding of this conflict for ‘as long as it takes,’ without any defined objectives or accountability, distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges,” he argued.
DeSantis accused Biden’s policies of pushing “Russia into a de facto alliance with China” and empowering “Russia’s energy-dominated economy and Putin’s war machine at Americans’ expense.”
More on this story via Conservative Brief:
“Our citizens are also entitled to know how the billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being utilized in Ukraine. We cannot prioritize intervention in an escalating foreign war over the defense of our own homeland, especially as tens of thousands of Americans are dying every year from narcotics smuggled across our open border and our weapons arsenals critical for our own security are rapidly being depleted,” DeSantis concluded in his questionnaire response, the New York Post reported.CONTINUE READING…