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Russia tells US to stop ‘hostile’ flights following drone intercept

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Moscow warned against “hostile” US flights on Wednesday, as tensions simmered a day after a Russian fighter jet was accused of colliding with an American drone over the Black Sea.

US European Command said two Russian Su-27 fighters intercepted the unmanned MQ-9 Reaper over international waters on Tuesday and one clipped its propeller.

Washington blamed Moscow for the incident, calling its fighters’ conduct reckless and unprofessional, but Russia has denied any wrongdoing.

“We assume that the United States will refrain from further speculation in the media and stop flights near Russian borders,” Russia’s ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said Wednesday.

“We consider any action with the use of US weaponry as openly hostile,” he wrote on social media channel Telegram.

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Russia’s defence ministry said Tuesday it scrambled fighter jets following the detection of a US drone over the Black Sea and denied causing the crash.

The Pentagon said its drone was on a routine mission when it was intercepted “in a reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” while Russia countered the aircraft was out of control.

“As a result of a sharp maneuver… the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle entered an uncontrolled flight with loss of altitude and collided with the surface of the water,” the ministry said, adding that the two Russian jets had no contact with the US aircraft and did not use their weapons.

The US State Department said it had summoned Russia’s ambassador to protest.

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