MOSCOW — Russia’s Defense Ministry has awarded state honors to the pilots of two fighter jets the U.S. has accused of forcing down an American Reaper drone over the Black Sea earlier this week — the latest twist in an incident that has sparked fears of direct military hostilities between the nuclear superpowers.
In a statement, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presented state awards to the Su-27 pilots saying they had “prevented” the American drone “intruder” from “violating” airspace restrictions that Russia unilaterally put in place during the conflict in Ukraine.
The Ministry statement again repeated Russian assertions that the U.S. surveillance plane was flying with its transponders off and had crashed into the water of its own accord due to sudden sharp maneuvers.
“The Russian aircraft did not use onboard weapons, did not come into contact with the unmanned aerial vehicle and returned safely to their home airfield,” said the Ministry.
The statement came one day after the Pentagon released video footage that showed Russian warplanes twice spraying what appears to be fuel onto the drone. The video feed cuts out, and a final clip shows a damaged propeller blade on the drone.
