Defense Minister Richard Marles has called on the Russian Military Defence to “explain” themselves after a United States Air Force drone was downed over the Black Sea.
Defence Minister Richard Marles insists Russia has some “explaining to do” following reports of a US Air Force drone being forced down over the Black Sea during an incident with Russian fighter jets.
At around 7am (Central European time) on Tuesday, the American drone was conducting a routine mission in international airspace – a normal occurrence for US and European military aircraft – when two Russian SU27 jets attempted to intercept it.
The aircrafts dumped fuel on it several times before flying in front of the American drone and striking the propeller of the MQ-9 drone, in a move the Pentagon’s Press Secretary has since said was “reckless and unprofessional”.
Mr Marles told Sky News Australia host Peter Stefanovic the incident is “another example” of Russia “not playing by the rules”.
“Ultimately, that’s what really underpins what’s at issue in Ukraine in the first place – which is this is a gross violation of the US charter and the global rules-based order,” he said on First Edition on Wednesday.
“As a big power seeks to impose itself on a smaller neighbour not by reference to the rule of law.
“What we are seeing overnight is just another example of that, and Russia has clearly got some explaining to do.”
When asked whether the drone incident was related to Tuesday’s AUKUS announcement between the United States, United Kingdom and Australia – which China has been highly critical of – Mr Marles said he believed it was “pretty unlikely”.
“I’ve seen the reports in this morning’s media, I’m not privy to any information that’s not in the public domain,” the Defence Minister added.
“It sounds from the reports firstly that the American drone was operating lawfully within international airspace and when the Russians intercepted it. They did it in an unprofessional way which caused the downing of that drone.”
Defence Minister Richard Marles wants Russia to explain what happened, accusing the nation of “not playing by the rules”. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage
The drone’s crash has resulted in the US and Russia partaking in a back-and-forth over responsibility for the incident.
US Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters at a press conference on Tuesday evening (local time) that the incident demonstrated a “lack of competence” on the part of the Russians, “in addition to being unsafe and unprofessional”.
Russian intercepts of US aircraft were not an uncommon occurrence over the Black Sea but the incident was the first which had ended in a crash, White House spokesperson John Kirby noted.
In response, Moscow has denied its aircraft made contact with the American drone and accused the US Air Force of violating the boundaries of an airspace regime created for the Ukraine war.
In a statement posted to their Telegram channel on Tuesday night (Moscow time), Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed the US drone had its transponders turned off which it said is a violation of international standards.
“The Russian aircraft did not use on-board weapons, did not come into contact with the unmanned aerial vehicle, and returned safely to their home airfield,” it added.
US President Joe Biden has been briefed on the situation, and Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov has been summoned to the US Department of State.
The Black Sea is bounded by Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Turkey alongside other Balkan nations, and has been the site of significant tensions since the annexation of Crimea in 2014.
