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Why Would Russia 'Attack' A U.S. Drone Over the Black Sea?
The drone incident with Russia appears to be an act of aggression, designed to intimidate, and the White House is treating it as such.

The statement added that the episode over the Black Sea also follows “a pattern of dangerous actions” involving U.S. and allied aircraft and Russian planes.
“These aggressive actions by Russian aircrew are dangerous and could lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation,” European Command said.
During a briefing with reporters on Tuesday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said this marked the first time one of these aerial intercepts “resulted in a splashing of one of our drones.”
One Reaper drone costs roughly $14 million.
Gen. Christopher Cavoli, supreme allied commander for Europe, has briefed allies on the episode, according to a NATO official.
A senior diplomat in Eastern Europe, who was granted anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said officials were concerned, “as it shows the aggressiveness of the Russian conduct. … This again shows the importance of the Black Sea and the need to have an approach on it for medium and long term.”
Hertling: "The fact that it collided, I would put money, I'd give it Vegas odds 60/40, that this was just an over anxious pilot who couldn't control his airplane or just did a dumb thing. I don't believe anybody ordered the pilot to do that. He may have gotten permission to dump fuel and get close. But to actually knock the drone out of the sky? That takes it up a notch."
Hertling: "When I was commander of US Army Europe, we used to have conferences with our partners at US Air Force Europe. I remember a general officer at US Air Force Europe, not the commander, telling me that one of his big concerns in the area was how unsafe Russian pilots were when they did these intercept missions. He said, "One day we're going to have problems with this and someone is going to get hurt." I'll never forget him saying that and that's directly from the mouth of an F16 pilot."
Stephen Twitty, a retired lieutenant general and former deputy commander of U.S. European Command who is now a distinguished fellow with the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), said the incident can be resolved and it was important that Washington not escalate tensions any further.
“What we cannot do is jump with hotheadedness to take both of our countries into conflict,” Twitty said. “We cannot let the Russians provoke us into doing something irrational.
“This is about more than about the United States — this is about us and 29 other countries,” he continued, and “we need to conduct ourselves in a manner that does not take NATO or the United States to war.”
A senior U.S. military official said the MQ-9 took off from its base in Romania on Tuesday morning for a regularly scheduled reconnaissance mission, which usually lasts about nine to 10 hours. While Reapers can carry Hellfire missiles, this aircraft was unarmed, the official said.
Flying at about 25,000 feet, the Reaper’s sophisticated cameras and other sensors could peer into Russian-controlled Crimea while flying in international air space, a typical mission that MQ-9s have been conducting well before the war in Ukraine started, the official said.
But the surveillance mission on Tuesday quickly took a dangerous turn. Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon spokesman, said that the Russian Su-27 aircraft were flying near the American Reaper for about 30 to 40 minutes.
The much faster Russian warplanes repeatedly zoomed around the propeller-driven Reaper, dumping fuel on it, apparently in an effort to sully the drone’s cameras or damage its other sensors, the senior military official said.
The incident stunned U.S. military officials watching it via a video feed from the drone to an operations center at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, the military official said. General Ryder said the Defense Department was going through the steps required to declassify the images.
General Ryder declined to discuss any efforts to recover the MQ-9, which went down in waters dominated by the Russian Navy.
David A. Deptula, a retired three-star Air Force general and the dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, said unless this particular MQ-9 had a unique sensor onboard, “there is no great loss if the Russians recover it.”
“MQ-9s have been lost over Yemen, Libya, Afghanistan and Syria, and parts have certainly been exploited/shared,” he said in an email.
Philip Breedlove, a retired Air Force general and former supreme allied commander of NATO, said Tuesday that such actions by the Russians are not new, and he wouldn’t rule out that the incident was born from a “stupid mistake.”
“This could be as simple as poor airmanship, poor professionalism,” he said.
If the collision was deliberate, though — which Breedlove emphasized there’s no evidence of so far — then it is significant and indicates that “Russia is trying to change the narrative” by striking a blow on the United States. “That would be concerning,” he added. “That they are so desperate to send that message that they actually strike something American.”
110% Intentional.![]()
r/Damnthatsinteresting - The video of a Russian SU-27 Fighter Jet colliding with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone
0 votes and 216 comments so far on Redditwww.reddit.com
Video of that fighter jet colliding with the drone
I know the fighter jet is going to win in most scenarios, but there has to be a solid chance that hitting the drone could cause catastrophic failure in the Russian jet? Or maybe I am completely wrong?110% Intentional.![]()
r/Damnthatsinteresting - The video of a Russian SU-27 Fighter Jet colliding with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone
0 votes and 216 comments so far on Redditwww.reddit.com
Video of that fighter jet colliding with the drone![]()
Like a golf cart vs a car, there's a chance.I know the fighter jet is going to win in most scenarios, but there has to be a solid chance that hitting the drone could cause catastrophic failure in the Russian jet? Or maybe I am completely wrong?110% Intentional.![]()
r/Damnthatsinteresting - The video of a Russian SU-27 Fighter Jet colliding with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone
0 votes and 216 comments so far on Redditwww.reddit.com
Video of that fighter jet colliding with the drone![]()
It was not intentional to hit... if so the Russian pilot is more of a moron than the average Russian moron. He is dumping fuel on it. A collusion while dumping fuel could easily ignite and then not more Russian jet or pilot.I know the fighter jet is going to win in most scenarios, but there has to be a solid chance that hitting the drone could cause catastrophic failure in the Russian jet? Or maybe I am completely wrong?110% Intentional.![]()
r/Damnthatsinteresting - The video of a Russian SU-27 Fighter Jet colliding with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone
0 votes and 216 comments so far on Redditwww.reddit.com
Video of that fighter jet colliding with the drone![]()
Maybe hitting the drone wasn't intentional, but getting that close and trying to down the drone over international waters by dumping fuel on it is 110% intentional and unacceptable.It was not intentional to hit... if so the Russian pilot is more of a moron than the average Russian moron. He is dumping fuel on it. A collusion while dumping fuel could easily ignite and then not more Russian jet or pilot.I know the fighter jet is going to win in most scenarios, but there has to be a solid chance that hitting the drone could cause catastrophic failure in the Russian jet? Or maybe I am completely wrong?110% Intentional.![]()
r/Damnthatsinteresting - The video of a Russian SU-27 Fighter Jet colliding with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone
0 votes and 216 comments so far on Redditwww.reddit.com
Video of that fighter jet colliding with the drone![]()
Oh yea, they were trying to down it without shooting at it. Apparently the morons thought that drones didn't have cameras on them? Maybe they thought our drones were like the Russian or Iranian crap they use? I dunno but the Russians are showing themselves to be absolutely incompetent and completely untrustworthy beyond belief. I mean, it isn't news or anything but it makes the Keystone Cops look like they have their crap together.Maybe hitting the drone wasn't intentional, but getting that close and trying to down the drone over international waters by dumping fuel on it is 110% intentional and unacceptable.It was not intentional to hit... if so the Russian pilot is more of a moron than the average Russian moron. He is dumping fuel on it. A collusion while dumping fuel could easily ignite and then not more Russian jet or pilot.I know the fighter jet is going to win in most scenarios, but there has to be a solid chance that hitting the drone could cause catastrophic failure in the Russian jet? Or maybe I am completely wrong?110% Intentional.![]()
r/Damnthatsinteresting - The video of a Russian SU-27 Fighter Jet colliding with a US MQ-9 Reaper drone
0 votes and 216 comments so far on Redditwww.reddit.com
Video of that fighter jet colliding with the drone![]()
A solider with Russia's Wagner mercenary group appeared to shoot one of his own comrades in chaotic video of a trench battle in Ukraine.
The video, shared by Ukrainian government advisor Anton Gerashchenko on Tuesday, gives an aerial view of soldiers slowly advancing towards each other through trenches in a battlefield marked by explosions. Gerashchenko said the footage came from Ukraine's 92nd brigade, which is fighting near the eastern city of Bakhmut, a center of months-long intense and bloody combat. Gerashchenko quoted a soldier who sent him the video, saying it shows Ukrainian soldiers retaking a trench from Russian forces. It is not clear when it was filmed.
His post said the Russians were from the Wagner paramilitary group, and that Ukraine successfully pushed them from their positions. The volunteer monitoring grou GeoConfirmed also identified the Russians as being from Wagner, which has taken a leading role in Russia's offensive in Bakhmut.
This is probably in retaliation for Poland discovering and dismantling the Russian spy network operating in Poland and spying on supply routes from Poland to Ukraine.WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s president says his country plans to give Ukraine a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, becoming the first NATO member country to fulfill the Ukrainian government’s increasingly urgent requests for warplanes.
President Andrzej Duda said Thursday that Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes in the coming days and the rest need to be checked and would be supplied later.
So the fuel dumping was intentional, and actually hitting the drone was either pilot error or a decision by the pilot.![]()
Russian leadership approved actions of jets that damaged U.S. drone, officials say
One official said he had not gotten indications that the signoff went all the way up to President Putin.www.nbcnews.com
The Russian jet actually clipping the propeller of the drone — which the U.S. says occurred and Russia denies — was likely not intentional, said the officials, who believe it was pilot error, based on U.S. video of the incident.
Not a problem, pilots traded landing gear bay door for three potatoes and a bottle of vodka weeks ago.Dumbass pilot could easily hurt his plane from clipping another. What if crippled his landing gear bay door?
Not sure how useful they would be but I wonder if they will end up donating their Su-22's too.This is probably in retaliation for Poland discovering and dismantling the Russian spy network operating in Poland and spying on supply routes from Poland to Ukraine.WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s president says his country plans to give Ukraine a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, becoming the first NATO member country to fulfill the Ukrainian government’s increasingly urgent requests for warplanes.
President Andrzej Duda said Thursday that Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes in the coming days and the rest need to be checked and would be supplied later.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64975200
Slovakia donating their MiGs as well, I read recently.Not sure how useful they would be but I wonder if they will end up donating their Su-22's too.This is probably in retaliation for Poland discovering and dismantling the Russian spy network operating in Poland and spying on supply routes from Poland to Ukraine.WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s president says his country plans to give Ukraine a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, becoming the first NATO member country to fulfill the Ukrainian government’s increasingly urgent requests for warplanes.
President Andrzej Duda said Thursday that Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes in the coming days and the rest need to be checked and would be supplied later.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64975200
Yea... 13 (I think) Mig-29's too. I believe that they are all retired stock that are likely to be in disrepair. The Ukrainians have shown great ability to adapt and use what they got though... even if it is just using them for parts they will figure out a way to use them.Slovakia donating their MiGs as well, I read recently.Not sure how useful they would be but I wonder if they will end up donating their Su-22's too.This is probably in retaliation for Poland discovering and dismantling the Russian spy network operating in Poland and spying on supply routes from Poland to Ukraine.WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s president says his country plans to give Ukraine a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, becoming the first NATO member country to fulfill the Ukrainian government’s increasingly urgent requests for warplanes.
President Andrzej Duda said Thursday that Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes in the coming days and the rest need to be checked and would be supplied later.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64975200
Lately Wagner seems like they're running short on success, ammunition, support, effective PR promotion, and supply of living bodies to shove to the front lines to die.A curious situation is developing in the balneological resort town of Goryachy Klyuch in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, between the town's administration and PMC Wagner. The town's administration denied the previously approved request for the group to bury mercenaries killed in Ukraine, claiming that the journalists who come to report on the burial are ruining the image of the resort and its direct leadership. Earlier, Prigozhin published several audio messaging condemning the town administration. And today, GREY ZONE, Prigozhin's mouthpiece Telegram channel posted this video with alleged Wagner mercenaries addressing the town administration. As you can see, they use rather intimidating language.
Not a good sign for Russia.![]()
Wagner Group To Shift Focus From Ukraine War After Military Feud, Heavy Losses – Bloomberg - The Moscow Times
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group is likely to shift his attention away from the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Yevgeny Prigozhin plans to turn his focus back to Africa, where his fighters are...www.themoscowtimes.com
Why would he be allowed to do that??![]()
Wagner Group To Shift Focus From Ukraine War After Military Feud, Heavy Losses – Bloomberg - The Moscow Times
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group is likely to shift his attention away from the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Yevgeny Prigozhin plans to turn his focus back to Africa, where his fighters are...www.themoscowtimes.com
There has been internal tensions for a while with Wagner and the military.Why would he be allowed to do that??![]()
Wagner Group To Shift Focus From Ukraine War After Military Feud, Heavy Losses – Bloomberg - The Moscow Times
The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group is likely to shift his attention away from the war in Ukraine, Bloomberg reported Thursday, citing sources familiar with the matter. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Yevgeny Prigozhin plans to turn his focus back to Africa, where his fighters are...www.themoscowtimes.com
Gotta think his risk of dying just shot up if that's true.
. The alleged shift is believed to be connected to the recent rift between Prigozhin and top military commanders who have sowed doubts with President Vladimir Putin about Wagner’s military capability, Bloomberg reportedWhy would he be allowed to do that??
Gotta think his risk of dying just shot up if that's true
In recent weeks, a crowdfunding exercise raised $22 million to buy high-tech radars that will provide air defence for Ukrainian citizens under attack from missiles and drones. "You know, our hearts and minds and wallets are with Ukrainians," Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told the ABC from his office in Vilnius. "It's not just politicians. It's not just the NGOs. It's everybody you meet on the street."