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All opinions expressed are mine and are not representative of Miami’s Community Newspapers nor does it reflect their stances on the topics discussed below.
Yesterday, Russian jets pursued an unmanned American surveillance drone over the Black Sea, south of Ukraine. At some point, the drone’s propeller was damaged and the US was forced to down the aircraft. According to the US, the Russian jets first attempted to dump fuel over the drone, presumably in the hopes of damaging its computer systems. Then a jet approached and clipped the drone in a maneuver that almost caused the Russian jet to crash as well. Russia denies this, saying they picked up the signal within Russian airspace of an unidentified aerial object that refused to respond to Russian communications asking it to identify itself. At which point, Russian jets attempted to escort the drone but after the drone made a sharp maneuver, it nearly collided with a Russian jet and instead crashed into the Black Sea.
The US’ response was to summon the Russian Ambassador to inquire about the incident further and stated that they have video footage that may be declassified in the future. Now, Russia and the US are in a race to recover the drone in the interest of taking it apart or repurposing its technology. After the meeting, the Russian ambassador stated resolutely that Russia would “no longer allow anybody to violate our waters.” A worrying statement to be sure considering they are laying down multiple illegitimate claims on Ukrainian territory. What’s stopping Russia from moving the goalposts arbitrarily to suit their needs?
Before touching upon the US’ options going forward, the question should be asked, what was the US drone doing? The drone in question is an MQ-9 “Reaper” drone, a class of surveillance drones that was likely monitoring the Russians and feeding intelligence to Ukraine as the US has done since the beginning of the war. The intelligence has been instrumental, allowing the Ukrainians to eliminate a significant portion of Russia’s commanding officers in their posts and bunkers. The extreme maneuver that Russia claims the drone had taken was likely after it was already impacted.
US State Department spokesperson, Ned Price, stated on MSNBC that the impact was likely unintentional on Russia’s part, however, tensions between the US, NATO and Russia continue to rise. Today, British and German jets escorted a Russian jet that approached NATO airspace near Estonia. The mission was routine but with the constant rhetoric from Russian media pointing fingers at the West, it is clear that antagonization on both sides will continue.
Update:
The US Air Force has officially released the footage of the drone collision and a Department of Defense official has stated that Russian ships are already at the sight of the drone crash. However, the official said that the depth of the waters by the crash are 4000-5000 feet deep and unlikely to be recovered. In the event that they are, the official alluded that the Pentagon has already implemented measures that would protect US intelligence.
Andres Pena is a Pinecrest resident and graduate of New York University with degrees in both English and American Literature and Political Science. He works for Miami’s Community News as both a writer and administrative assistant. For more inquiries on US and Global News, contact andres@communitynewspapers.com or call 305-951-6726.
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