The United States resumed flights of its drones over the Black Sea, they were suspended after the collision of the American MQ-9 Reaper UAV with the Su-27 of the Russian Defense Ministry. It is reported by Reuters with reference to two American officials, their names were not disclosed.
On Friday, March 17, an RQ-4 Global Hawk drone was already sent to the region, which took off from Romanian airspace at an altitude of 16 km and flew in international airspace southeast of Crimea. One of the interlocutors of the agency noted that this was the first flight of a drone after the incident with the Russian fighter. However, CNN claims that the US had previously sent a drone to the MQ-9 crash site, where the Russian Federation was searching for the wreckage.
The incident with a Russian fighter jet and a UAV from the United States occurred on March 14. The plane crashed into the propeller of an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, the US air force had to sink its drone in the neutral waters of the Black Sea. The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that the MQ-9 lost control, fell into the sea and sank. According to the Pentagon, Russian fighter jets deliberately dropped fuel onto the aircraft before engaging the propeller of the drone.