On Wednesday, July 5, Russian fighter jets flew dangerously close to American drones in the skies over Syria, forcing them to deviate from their route, the US Air Force said.
The US Air Force Central Command has released a video showing a Russian Su-35 approaching an American MQ-9 Reaper. Then several parachute flares are shown moving along the drone’s flight path.
“As three American MQ-9 drones were flying a mission against the Islamic State, three Russian fighter jets began to pursue them,” US Air Force Lieutenant General Alexus Grinkevich said in a statement. According to him, Russian planes dropped several parachute flares in front of the drones, and “one Russian pilot positioned his plane in front of the MQ-9 and turned on the afterburner, thereby reducing the operator’s ability to safely control the aircraft.”
Regarding Russia’s unprofessional behavior while reacting with U.S. aircraft over Syria, please see the video of today’s encounter.
For the full statement by Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, Commander, 9th AF (AFCENT) visithttps://t.co/WKDYPiPT96@CENTCOM @DeptofDefense @usairforce pic.twitter.com/nmSSBxUojO– US AFCENT (@USAFCENT) July 5, 2023
Hrynkevych called the Russian fighter jets’ maneuver against the drones “dangerous and unprofessional,” calling on Moscow to “stop this ridiculous behavior.”
Not the first such incident
The current incident is not the first. In March 2023, Russian Su-27 fighter jets approached a similar American MQ-9 drone dangerously over the Black Sea and even doused it with jet fuel. In the end, one of the Su-27s hit the MQ-9’s propeller, and U.S. forces were forced to sink the drone in international waters. Subsequently, the Russian military may have been able to retrieve some of the wreckage of the American drone from the sea.
At first, the Russians denied any involvement in the downing of the American drone, and after the video evidence was released, they awarded orders and medals to the pilots of the Su-27 that provoked the incident.
Instead, John Kirby, Strategic Communications Coordinator for the National Security Council at the White House, criticized the Russian Ministry of Defense for the award and called the pilot an “idiot.”
