©Russian Defence Ministry/TASS
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu bestowed Orders of Courage on the Su-27 pilots for intercepting a US spy drone over the Black Sea, the Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.
At a meeting with military commanders, Shoigu bestowed Gold Star medals and Orders of Courage on the Russian service members who had displayed heroism in the special military operation in Ukraine, the ministry said.
"In addition, the Orders of Courage were bestowed on the pilots of Su-27 planes who prevented an American MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle from violating the airspace temporarily restricted for flights for the purposes of the special military operation," the statement reads.
As Russia’s Defense Ministry reported earlier, the Russian Aerospace Forces’ airspace control capabilities spotted a flight by a US MQ-9 drone near the Crimean Peninsula on March 14. As the ministry explained, the American reconnaissance drone flew with its transponders switched off towards the Russian border and intruded into the area covered "by the temporary regime for the airspace use established for the purposes of the special military operation (in Ukraine) and brought to the notice of all international airspace users and published in accordance with international norms."
The US drone lost control "as a result of an abrupt maneuver" and crashed into the Black Sea waters while the Russian fighter jets scrambled to intercept the intruder did not employ their onboard armaments and did not enter into contract with the UAV, the ministry specified.
According to the US version, two Russian Su-27 fighter jets intercepted the MQ-9 reconnaissance drone over the Black Sea. Finally, as Washington claims, one of the fighters struck the drone’s propeller, causing it to crash.
China gives US advice on Ukraine
The US should stop “fanning the flames” of the conflict in Ukraine instead of making accusations against Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin has said.
©AFP/Greg Baker
During a briefing on Wednesday, Wang responded to a statement by US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, who said the previous day that he didn’t think “you can reasonably look at China as impartial in any way” when it comes to the fighting between Moscow and Kiev. Beijing has failed to condemn Russia’s military operation, while continuing to buy energy from the country, he added.
Kirby noted that Chinese President Xi Jinping “saw fit to fly all the way to Moscow” this week, but has never spoken to his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Zelensky.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman rejected Kirby’s claims, stating that the US was itself too deeply involved in the conflict in Ukraine to accuse Beijing of being biased.
“The US side claims that China's stance isn’t impartial. But is it impartial to continuously supply weapons to the battlefield? Is it impartial to constantly escalate the conflict? Is it impartial to allow the effects of the crisis to spill over globally?” Wang said, referring to the Biden administration’s policies.
“We advise the American side to rethink its own stance on the Ukraine issue, turn away from the erroneous path of adding fuel to the fire, and stop shifting the blame to China,” he said.
Beijing has “no selfish motives on the Ukraine issue, has not stood idly by... or sought profit for itself,” the spokesman insisted. “What China has done boils down to one thing, that is, to promote peace talks.”
As for Xi’s trip to the Russian capital, which took place between Monday and Wednesday, Wang pointed out that this was “a journey of friendship, cooperation and peace, which has aroused positive responses in the international community.”
The Ukrainian crisis was among the top issues discussed between Vladimir Putin and Xi in Moscow, with the Russian president stressing that many provisions of the Chinese peace proposal were “consonant with the Russian stance and can be taken as a foundation for a peaceful settlement when they are ready for it in the West and in Kiev.” However, Putin pointed out that Moscow currently didn’t detect readiness from either the US, its allies or the Ukrainian government.
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