WATCH | Pentagon releases video of moment when Russian fighter jet hit US drone over Black Sea

The European Command of the United States military on Thursday (March 16), released the footage of the critical encounter which happened between an American surveillance drone and Russian fighter jetover the Black Sea earlier this week.

The US military said that a Russian Su-27 fighter jet downed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, and calledit a "reckless" incident.US Air Force General James Hecker, the commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, said: "Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9."

In the video released by the Pentagon, the Russian military jet can be seen coming very close to a US military drone and dumping fuel near it. The US said that the Russian aircraft damaged the propeller during the intercept.

The Pentagon said that the de-classified video, which is about 40 seconds long, has been edited by the US military for length but shows events in a sequential order.

Meanwhile, Russia has denied the accusations levelled by the US that its jets acted recklessly. Moscow said that the drone crashed after making "sharp manoeuvres," having "provocatively" flown close to Russian air space near Crimea.

A ministry statement said that the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu told his US counterpart that the American drone flights near Crimea's coast "were provocative in nature" and could lead to "an escalation in the Black Sea zone."

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General Mark Milley, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday: "There is a pattern of behaviour recently where there is a little bit more aggressive actions being conducted by the Russians."

General Milley further added that it was unclear whether the Russian pilots had intended to strike the drone. But the incident was seen as the first direct encounter between the world's leading nuclear powers since the Ukraine war began last year in February.

After the release of the footage, the White House said that it refuted Moscow's version of events.

White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters: "It absolutely just decimates the Russian lie about what they said happened or what they said didn't happen. It's pretty darn obvious when you look at that video that (the) fighter jet hit our drone."

(With inputs from agencies)

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