The US Army has released declassified images of the incident between a Russian “Su-27” fighter and an American drone that occurred over the Black Sea. The images show how the Russian aircraft carried out an unsafe and unprofessional interception of an “MQ-9” drone of the US Air Force in international aerial flight space on March 14, according to a statement released by the US command. The US also offers a storyboard of how the incident occurred in the Black Sea, where there was another Russian fighter, which has increased tension between Washington and Moscow and has the war in Ukraine as its background.

The incident began when a Russian plane approached the rear of the American “MQ-9”, then began to release fuel in its path, and as it did so, flew over the drone. Shortly after, the Russian “Su-27” made a second approach towards the “MQ-9”, released fuel again, and even passed closer to the unmanned device. Shortly after, the Russian plane collided with the drone, and the image from the “MQ-9” camera was lost for approximately 60 seconds, according to the US command. When the camera recovered transmission, it was evident that the propeller and one of the drone’s struts were damaged.

The US government claimed it was forced to crash the drone into Black Sea waters and blamed Moscow for the incident, which it said was deliberate. Conversely, Russia’s Defense Ministry denied any contact between its fighters and the drone, which, according to the Kremlin’s version, went into a sudden uncontrolled flight and crashed into the sea after suddenly losing altitude.

The incident occurred near the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, where Moscow frowns upon the presence of NATO, be it warships or reconnaissance and surveillance devices. The incident has increased tension between the US and Russia, contributing to the ongoing war in Ukraine’s background.