Two Russian Air Force Su-27 jets carried out the intercept of the American ‘Reaper’ drone, and one of them collided with it at 7:03 a.m. (0603 GMT).
Several times before the collision, the Russian fighter jets dumped fuel on the MQ-9 and flew in front of it in unsafe way, the U.S. military said in a statement.
“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 drone.
There was no immediate comment from Moscow.