Keneci Channel
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches its 13th month, there's a growing concern that the conflict may trigger a third world war, as President Joe Biden and United States' European allies face mounting criticism over their refusal to push for peace, and their continued arming of Ukrainian military.
The war in Ukraine took a dangerous turn earlier this week, when a Russian Su-27 Flanker fighter jet and a US MQ-9 Reaper Remotely Piloted Aircraft(RPA) were involved in an inflight collision over the Black Sea.
According to a statement on the March 24 incident by the US European Command, at approximately 7:03 AM (CET), one of the Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of the MQ-9 RPA, causing U.S. forces to have to bring the MQ-9 down in international waters. EUCOM says that several times before the collision, the Su-27s dumped fuel on and flew in front of the MQ-9 in a “reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional manner,” demonstrating “a lack of competence in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional.”
“Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander, U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa. “In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”
The US has MQ-9s forward deployed to NAS Sigonella (Italy), Miroslawiec AB (Poland), Campia Turzii (Romania) and recently Larissa Air Base (Greece).
The RPAs routinely depart their bases to perform missions over the Black Sea, together with the larger RQ-4 Global Hawk. It is not clear from where the drone involved in this week's incident was launched for the mission. Several ISR aircraft were also operating in the region when at the time the incident occurred. Among them, the Italian Air Force G550 CAEW of the Task Group “Argo” deployed to Romania.
As the news of the collision was released, the Italian MOD posted a tweet about the latest QRA launch of the Eurofighter Typhoons supporting NATO enhanced Air Policing Area-South, from Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base, Costanta, Romania.
Back in US, Biden and neocon warhawks have recently been facing scrutiny over their reckless push for more funding of Ukraine and escalation of the war. Critics have called on the administration to pressure Kyiv to make peace with Kremlin, and end the war that has caused over 200,000 deaths on both sides.