- This appears to be the most serious publicly acknowledged US-Russia conflict.
- It raises many questions and signals a potentially dangerous period.
- The whole episode lasted roughly 30-40 minutes.
The collision between Russian jets and a US drone, which ended in the drone plunging into the Black Sea, appears to be the most serious publicly acknowledged US-Russia conflict since Russia‘s all-out invasion of Ukraine over a year ago.
As so, it raises many questions and signals a potentially dangerous period.
According to John Kirby of the United States National Security Council (NSC), there had been other intercepts “even in recent weeks,” but this one was unique.
Could it have been a mistake?
“Based on the actions of the Russian pilots, it’s clear that it was unsafe, unprofessional,” was the verdict of the Pentagon’s Press Secretary, Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder.
“I think the actions speak for themselves.”
Is Russia’s pilots’ behavior – allegedly pouring fuel in the route of the drone and then colliding with it – a serious escalation?
According to the Pentagon, the whole episode lasted roughly 30-40 minutes.
According to Gen Ryder, there was no direct communication between the Soviet and US armies at the time.
According to US sources, the Russian Su-27 jets involved “likely” received some damage, indicating that the collision was not intentional.
“I do know that the state department is raising our concerns about the incident directly with the Russian government,” he added.
What, if anything, does the incident portend for the future of US drone operations over the Black Sea, as well as the crucial monitoring such flights provide for Ukraine?
“If the message is that they want to deter or dissuade us from flying or operating in international airspace over the Black Sea,” Mr. Kirby told, “then that message will fail because that is not going to happen”.
Not surprisingly, Russia wishes to make such efforts as difficult as possible for Ukraine’s supporters.
Washington is being tight-lipped about what has happened to the drone.
After the collision, US remote pilots were forced to bring it down in the Black Sea.
General Ryder refused to identify where it landed or whether the Russian navy attempted to recover it.
Audio recordings surfacing on social media appear to imply that a Russian recovery effort was in progress. However, this has not been confirmed.
Certainly, Washington would be upset if such sensitive monitoring technology came into the hands of Russia.
For Joe Biden, who is willing to defend Ukraine for “as long as it takes,” this is a tricky situation.
Not only is Western armament assisting Ukraine in repelling Russia’s assault.
It also has a massive amount of real-time intelligence on all aspects of Russia’s military actions, such as the movement of ships in the Black Sea and the launch of missiles intended at targets around Ukraine.
Kyiv relies significantly on information flow, from guarding Ukraine’s crucial national infrastructure to organizing its own offensive operations.
For obvious reasons, US authorities would not discuss what, if any, extra safeguards will be implemented in its monitoring operations.
America wants to keep them going but is wary of deploying force and risking a more direct confrontation with Moscow.
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