Russia’s ambassador to Washington, DC, has accused the US Air Force of unprofessionalism regarding the loss of an MQ-9 Reaper drone in the Black Sea on Tuesday, adding that the loss of the $32 million vehicle was “a shame.”
Ambassador Anatoly Antonov on Wednesday continued Moscow’s attacks on the US over the loss of the drone, which the Air Force said was caused by Russian Su-27 fighter jets dumping fuel on, and then ramming the propeller of, a Reaper flying over international airspace.
Antonov told Newsweek that the drone was collecting intelligence to support Ukrainian attacks on Russian positions in occupied Crimea and denied there was any unprofessionalism or aggression by the Russian fighter pilots.
“Of course, it is a shame for the Pentagon to lose [this] expensive piece of equipment,” Antonov said Wednesday, as quoted by Russia’s state-run Tass news agency. “But in this case, the US military should redirect accusations of unprofessional actions back to themselves.”
“I repeat, for those who have not gathered themselves to look at the situation objectively: our fighters did not come into contact with the American UAV [unmanned aerial vehicle],” Antonov added.
“Russia did everything possible to prevent this kind of incident—it informed the international community in good time about the boundaries of the temporary airspace regime established for the special military operation,” he said, using the Kremlin’s terminology for the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Though Russian and NATO aircraft regularly intercept each other around their respective borders, Tuesday’s incident raised concerns of escalation given the loss of the drone, which Moscow is now reportedly seeking to recover.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) suggested the US should shoot down Russian aircraft in retaliation. Antonov said the senator’s suggestions “go far beyond common sense.”
“This is by no means the first attempt by the notorious lawmaker to provoke a dangerous escalation in US-Russian relations,” Antonov said. “A year ago, he urged our citizens to make an assassination attempt on the president of Russia. Does Senator Graham really believe that a direct military clash with Russia is in the interests of the voters who entrusted him with their lives and livelihood?”
In March 2022, following the start of the invasion of Ukraine, Graham suggested that Russians should assassinate President Vladimir Putin.
“Is there a Brutus in Russia? Is there a more successful Colonel Stauffenberg in the Russian military?” hey tweeted. “The only way this ends is for somebody in Russia to take this guy out. You would be doing your country—and the world—a great service.”
Brutus was among those who assassinated Roman Emperor Julius Caesar and German Lt. Col. Claus von Stauffenberg attempted to kill Adolf Hitler in 1944.
“A deliberate attack on a Russian aircraft in neutral airspace is not just a crime under international law, but an open declaration of war against the largest nuclear power. An armed conflict between Russia and the United States would be radically different from the proxy war the Americans are waging remotely against us in Ukraine,” Antonov said.
“It is not the Russian pilots who should be called out, but American politicians who are inciting the start of an apocalyptic conflict.”
Newsweek has contacted Graham’s office by email to request comment.
Russia’s ambassador to Washington, DC, has accused the US Air Force of unprofessionalism regarding the loss of an MQ-9 Reaper drone in the Black Sea on Tuesday, adding that the loss of the $32 million vehicle was “a shame.”
