WASHINGTON: The United States on Thursday released a video it said shows an “unsafe” and “unprofessional” intercept by Russian military jets when one struck an American drone, damaging its propeller.

Russia has denied responsibility for the incident, which the United States says left its drone uncontrollable and required it to be brought down in the Black Sea.

The declassified 42-second video — which the US military says has been edited for length — shows an Su-27 jet bearing down on the propeller-driven MQ-9, releasing streams of fuel as it passes in an apparent effort to harass the drone. An Su-27 makes another pass, again dumping fuel as it does so.

The video is then interrupted — a cut the US military said lasts for 60 seconds as a result of a Russian jet striking the drone. When the feed returns, part of the drone’s propeller is missing.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had scrambled jets on Tuesday after detecting a US drone over the Black Sea, but denied causing the crash, saying the aircraft had lost control.

“We have seen a significant spike since about March 1 in Syria,” General Erik Kurilla, head of US Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Thursday.

The Pentagon said the drone was on a routine mission when it was intercepted — a term that refers to one aircraft making visual or electronic contact with another — in a “reckless” and “unprofessional manner.” The incident has ratcheted up tensions between Moscow and Western allies, already soaring over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but top security officials from the United States and Russia have been in touch.

Published in Dawn, March 17th, 2023