Footage of Russia Fighter Jet Crashing US Drone Into Black Sea

Pentagon footage proves Russia was lying when it said its Su-27 fighter jet made no contact with $32M US Reaper drone after dumping fuel on it and sending it crashing into Black Sea.

This is the astonishing moment a Russian fighter jet crashes into a US MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea.

Drone camera footage shows the terrifying confrontation as an Su-27 jet approaches from behind, clips its propeller and dumps fuel over it in international airspace on Tuesday.

US forces had to bring down the $32million surveillance drone in international waters after the encounter, sparking a race between Moscow and Washington to recover it.

Russian ships were spotted at the crash site on Wednesday trying to find the debris, after the Pentagon insisted parts could not be retrieved and any intelligence had been wiped.

The footage was released on the back of a NBC News report that the 'highest levels' of the Kremlin signed off on the aggressive behavior of the jets during the intercept.

The dramatic 42-second clip released by the Pentagon follows Russian claims its jet did not make contact with the drone, instead claiming the drone crashed on its own after 'sharp manoeuvring'.

Moscow also said it would work to retrieve the wreckage in what would be a propaganda coup for Vladimir Putin, after earlier warning that it will 'consider any action with US weaponry as openly hostile'.

This is the first direct confrontation between Russia and the US since the start of the war in Ukraine, and comes hours after US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to his Russian counterpart, calling the encounter 'provocative in nature' and saying it risked escalating the situation around the Black Sea.

The newly-declassified clip shared today shows the unmanned drone come into contact with a Russian jet after flying 'in the vicinity' of the aircraft for 30 to 40 minutes just after 7am CET (6am GMT) on Tuesday.

The sequential video, edited by the US military for length, shows one of two Russian jets flying over international waters pull up on the drone, approaching from behind.

The jet is shown to dump fuel as it passes. Fuel dumping is usually used by aircraft in emergency situations to lose weight.

The drone's camera suffers damage before it is forced to make an emergency landing in international waters below.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby slammed Russia's actions as reckless and dangerous.

But the Russian defence ministry pushed back, saying in a statement, 'Russian fighters did not use airborne weapons and did not come into contact with the American drone.

'Due to sharp manoeuvring, the American drone went into uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface.'

Mr Kirby asserted on Tuesday that the State Department would address 'concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept' with their Russian counterparts.

Russia's Ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, meanwhile accused the US of committing an 'act of provocation'.

He warned Washington it must stop 'hostile' flights near his country's border - or face the consequences.

The US has maintained its position that Russia intentionally clashed with the drone, as appears to be the case in the declassified video.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley told reporters: 'We know that the intercept was intentional. We know that the aggressive behavior was intentional.'

Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said he spoke to his Russian counterpart on Wednesday in their first call since October.

'I just got off the phone with my Russian counterpart, Minister Shoigu,' Mr Austin said at a Pentagon press briefing.

'As I've said repeatedly, it's important that great powers be models of transparency and communication, and the United States will continue to fly and to operate wherever international law allows.'

Russia said it made clear in the call that it sees things differently and that US aerial operations in the region are a threat.

The defense ministry statement said after Sergei Shoigu's telephone conversation with Mr Austin: 'It was noted that flights by American strategic lethal drones by the Crimea coastline were provocative in nature and created pre-conditions for an escalation of the situation in the Black Sea zone.'

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Russian ships had been seen near the area where the drone had crashed, though they did not appear to have recovered any parts of the drone yet. It was not clear if the ships were still in the area.

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