The United States European Command (USEUCOM) has released footage of Tuesday’s incident between a US surveillance drone and a Russian fighter jet over the Black Sea. The newly declassified video depicts critical moments of the aerial encounter, which the Pentagon says lasted 30-40 minutes. The video shows the MQ-9 Reaper drone’s camera pointing back towards its tail and the aircraft’s rear-mounted propeller spinning. Subsequently, a Russian Sukhoi SU-27 fighter jet is seen approaching. As it approaches, the Russian fighter drops fuel as it intercepts the American drone.

In another piece of footage, the Russian aircraft makes another pass. As it approaches, it drops fuel again. The drone footage then cuts out as the Russian fighter touches the MQ-9 Reaper, damaging the propeller and ultimately forcing the drone down in the Black Sea. Russia has denied there was a hit.

The Pentagon accused Russia of its two Su-27 aircraft of conducting “an unsafe and unprofessional intercept with a U.S. Air Force intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance unmanned MQ-9 aircraft operating within international airspace over the Black Sea” on March 14, 2023. Russian Su-27s dumped fuel upon and struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters. (U.S. Air Force video)

At the time of its crash, two US officials told CNN that the operators remotely shut down the drone’s sensitive software, reducing the risk of classified material falling into enemy hands before it hit the water.

Moscow had made clear it would attempt to recover the wreckage of the drone, and two officials told CNN on Wednesday that Russia had reached the crash site of the MQ-9 in the Black Sea.

A deliberate attack on a Russian aircraft in neutral airspace would be an open declaration of war against the world’s largest nuclear power, and could lead to a nuclear holocaust, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has warned.