Russia says US drone flights over Black Sea risk direct clash

MOSCOW: Russia warned the United States on Friday its reconnaissance drone flights over the Black Sea risked leading to a “direct” military clash, issuing the threat days after angrily blaming Washington for a missile strike on Crimea.

Ukraine’s attack on the Russian-annexed port of Sevastopol on Sunday drew fury from Moscow, which accused Kyiv of using US-supplied ATACMS missiles equipped with cluster munitions.

Four people, including two children, were killed as missile fragments fell over the city, in what the Kremlin’s foreign ministry called a “bloody crime”.

On Friday, Russia’s defence ministry said it had “observed an increased frequency of US strategic unmanned aerial vehicle flights over the waters of the Black Sea” which surrounds Crimea.

It said the drones were “carrying out reconnaissance” and providing information for Western-supplied Ukrainian weapons that Kyiv is planning to use to strike Russian targets.

Such flights “increase the risk of a direct confrontation” between NATO and Russia, and the army has been instructed to prepare an “operational response”, the defence ministry said.

The United States routinely carries out drone flights over the Black Sea, operations that it says are conducted in neutral airspace and in accordance with international law.

‘Bloody crime’

Russia has repeatedly warned Washington and the West they risk becoming “direct participants” in the Ukraine conflict by supplying Kyiv with weapons.

It alleged on Sunday the United States had programmed and provided data for the missiles which targeted Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.

Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder said Ukrainians made “their own decisions” about where to strike, while the State Department pointed out Crimea is recognised internationally as part of Ukraine. Russia nonetheless vowed there would be “consequences” and summoned US ambassador Lynne Tracy in protest.