Moscow, Aug 29 (EFE).- Russian fighters intercepted two US spy drones over the Black Sea near Crimea on Monday, the Defense Ministry said.
“Air control detected in the southwestern Black Sea region two US Air Force drones, MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-4 Global Hawk, flying in the direction of the Russian border,” a ministry statement on Telegram said.
The drones were allegedly carrying out a reconnaissance mission in the area of the Crimean Peninsula.
The ministry said it scrambled two Russian fighters to prevent a possible violation of Russian airspace and stop the drones from spying.
It said the drones left the area soon after the deployment of fighter jets.
It is not the first such incident this year.
Russia claimed to have spotted and intercepted two MQ-9A spy drones and a Turkish TB2 Bayraktar drone engaged in intelligence gathering near the Crimean Peninsula earlier this month.
In May, the Russian military said the air force jets intercepted four US strategic bombers above the Baltic Sea.
In March, a US drone crashed after colliding with a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea.
Earlier this month, Russia condemned the alleged terror attacks by Ukraine using drones against facilities in Moscow.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the armed forces would respond to such attacks.
“Our armed forces, which are carrying out extremely important missions aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine, will not leave these attacks without an appropriate response,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the Russian government would not ignore the role of the Western intelligence services, which provide Ukraine with intelligence data that they use to chart the drone courses.
mos-ar/ssk
