KYIV: An incident involving a United States spy drone and a Russian fighter jet is a sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to expand the Ukraine-Russia conflict zone, a senior Ukrainian security official said on Wednesday.
The US military said on Tuesday that a Russian fighter jet chopped off the propeller of a spy drone and shot it down in the Black Sea. Moscow denied the plane hit, saying the drone crashed after a “sharp manoeuvre”.
The Ukrainian president and government did not immediately make an official comment on the incident, but Oleksiy DanilovSecretary of National Security of Ukraine and defense councilExpressed concern on Twitter.
“The incident with the American MQ-9 Reaper UAV, provoked by Russia in the Black Sea, signals Putin’s readiness to expand the conflict zone with the involvement of other parties,” he wrote.
He said Russia had an exit strategy in its years-old war in Ukraine with “steadily raising the stakes” in hopes of turning what he described as a “strategic defeat situation” for Russia.
The US military said on Tuesday that a Russian fighter jet chopped off the propeller of a spy drone and shot it down in the Black Sea. Moscow denied the plane hit, saying the drone crashed after a “sharp manoeuvre”.
The Ukrainian president and government did not immediately make an official comment on the incident, but Oleksiy DanilovSecretary of National Security of Ukraine and defense councilExpressed concern on Twitter.
“The incident with the American MQ-9 Reaper UAV, provoked by Russia in the Black Sea, signals Putin’s readiness to expand the conflict zone with the involvement of other parties,” he wrote.
He said Russia had an exit strategy in its years-old war in Ukraine with “steadily raising the stakes” in hopes of turning what he described as a “strategic defeat situation” for Russia.
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