Russia and the United States have entered the race for the wreckage of a drone that fell into the Black Sea

The United States is taking action to ensure that the wreckage of the MQ-9 drone that fell into the Black Sea does not fall into the wrong hands, John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator at the National Security Council, said CNN.

“Without going into details, I can say that we have taken steps to protect our assets in the form of this very drone. It’s owned by the United States, and we wouldn’t want anyone but us to get it,” Kirby said.

At the same time, he noted that where the drone fell, “very, very deep water.” Now in the US they are deciding whether “activities to extract it” can be carried out. Kirby also added that Washington was trying to “minimize the reconnaissance value” of the drone for those who can detect it from the Americans. Earlier, Pentagon spokesman General Patrick Ryder assured that the MQ-9 did not fall into the hands of the Russian military.

In turn, the secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, Nikolai Patrushev, said that Russia will try to recover the remains of an American drone that fell into the Black Sea. “I don’t know if we’ll be able to get it or not, but the fact that we have to do it and we will do it is a must,” he said, noting that there are technical possibilities for it.

The maximum depth of the Black Sea reaches 2210 meters. The exact coordinates of the drone crash were not disclosed, but the parties called the water incident south of Crimea. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration depth exceeds 1000 meters, and the diver will not be able to withstand it even with powerful special equipment.

On March 14, the US European Command reported that a Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with a US MQ-9 reconnaissance drone over the Black Sea, after which the drone crashed in international waters. The plane made a “dangerous and unprofessional interception” and damaged the propeller of the apparatus, before spilling fuel on it, they claimed in Washington.

In turn, the Russian Ministry of Defense said that the militants did not use air weapons and did not come into contact with the American drone. According to the drone department drowned when “entered uncontrollable flight as a result of violent manoeuvres”.

The incident was reported to US President Joe Biden. Russian Ambassador Anatoly Antonov was summoned to the US State Department for explanations. The diplomat said that the incident took place in a “special military operation zone” that Russia “did not enter, did not penetrate.”

Kirby stressed that the US will continue to fly over the Black Sea despite the US drone incident. According to him, if in this way Russia wants to scare Washington from flights and operations in international airspace, then “this will not happen.” “The Black Sea does not belong to any country. And we will continue to do what is necessary to safeguard our national security interests in this part of the world,” Kirby said.