Shocking footage shows the moment a Russian fighter jet dumped fuel on a US drone over the Black sea.
A camera mounted on the bottom of the drone shows the Russian jet approaching before starting to release a cloud of fuel which briefly engulfs the US aircraft.
During the incident the jet struck the propeller of the US surveillance drone on Tuesday causing American forces to bring down the unmanned aerial vehicle, the US military confirmed.
The MQ9 Reaper drone was hoovering up information on Moscow’s forces in the east of Ukraine and off the coast when the Russian pilots are said to have dumped fuel on it in mid-air.
The two Russian planes are then believed to have flown close in front of it and one of them collided with the propeller of the US craft.
The Russian Defense Ministry says Russian fighter jets didn't use weapons or impact a US drone that went down after an encounter over the Black Sea.
The ministry said the U.S. drone was flying near the Russian border and intruded into an area declared off limits by Russian authorities.
It said the Russian military scrambled fighters to intercept the drone, which it claimed crashed into the water after a sharp manoeuvre.
Moscow said the U.S. drone manoeuvred sharply and crashed into water following an encounter with Russian fighter jets scrambled to intercept it near Crimea, but insisted its warplanes didn't fire their weapons or hit the drone.
It is not known where the drone was brought down.
The "unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians" nearly caused the fighter jet and drone to crash, the US military said.
US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the incident which was branded “reckless’ by National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.
He added that U.S. State Department officials would be speaking directly with their Russian counterparts and "expressing our concerns over this unsafe and unprofessional intercept."
State Department spokesman Ned Price called it a "brazen violation of international law."
He said the U.S. summoned the Russian ambassador to lodge a protest and the U.S. ambassador to Russia, Lynne Tracy, has made similar representations in Moscow.
