Russia denies its Su-27 plane clipped the propeller of an unmanned Reaper drone

Moscow:

Moscow will work to retrieve the wreckage of an American drone that crashed over the Black Sea after Washington said it collided with a Russian fighter jet, a top official said Wednesday.

“I don’t know whether we’ll be able to retrieve it or not but it has to be done. And we will certainly work on it,” Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev said in televised remarks.

“I am hoping for success of course.”

The head of Russia’s SVR intelligence service, Sergei Naryshkin, said the country has “technical” capabilities to retrieve the drone.

Tensions simmered Wednesday after a Russian fighter jet was accused of colliding with an American drone over the Black Sea a day earlier. 

Although Russia denies its Su-27 plane clipped the propeller of an unmanned Reaper drone, Kyiv said the incident over international waters was a Kremlin attempt to widen the Ukraine conflict.

“We must defend our independence, and sovereignty,” Patrushev said on Wednesday, adding that the flight of the drone was another piece of “evidence that they are taking part” in the hostilities in Ukraine, referring to the United States.

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