“It should be emphasized that at no time did the drone enter Russian airspace,” said General Jérôme Pellistrandi.
“It’s a serious incident that could lead to more tension,” highlights on franceinfo Tuesday March 14, 2023 General Jérôme Pellistrandi after an American drone was shot down in the Black Sea. Washington accuses the Russians of being behind this incident. The White House denounces an act “thoughtless”. For its part, the Russian army denies any involvement.
The French general notes that this drone was followed from “30 to 40 minutes” by two Russian aircraft. Jérôme Pellistrandi, editor-in-chief of the magazine Défense nationale, affirms that we are faced with a “deliberate action on the part of the Russians” who intervenes “at the worst time”.
franceinfo: With this incident, are we heading towards an escalation of tensions?
Jerome Pellistrandi : This is an extremely serious incident. The American drone, the Reaper drone, is a device that has a wingspan of about 20 meters, so it’s a big machine that is easily spotted. It would seem that the two Russian planes had been following him for 30 to 40 minutes. It is therefore a deliberate action on the part of the Russians and this reflects the extreme level of tension. The conversations between the pilots and the Russian control organizations had to be recorded by the Americans. They also have other information they have not disclosed about this incident. This is a serious incident that could lead to more tension. We will see in the days to come what will be the follow-up given to this incident.
What could be the consequences?
We very regularly see NATO planes, American planes, British planes, French planes monitoring the entire area located to the East, therefore in particular around Ukraine and the Black Sea. This practice is common and necessary, because it makes it possible to have information and to know what is happening, especially on the Russian side. But we know it is an airspace that can be disputed. There, obviously, the Russians wanted to send a signal. But a signal that falls at the wrong time. Especially since obviously, the drone therefore fell in the middle of the Black Sea, that is to say in an area which is not under Russian jurisdiction. It is therefore a deliberate act. This is why the Russian ambassador was immediately summoned to Washington.
The Russian Ministry of Defense specifies, according to him, that the drone entered a particular zone, the airspace established to carry out the special military operation, which led to its interception. What is it exactly?
The mission of the drones used by the Americans, but also by NATO, is to gather intelligence to find out what is going on. But it should be noted that at no time did the drone enter Russian airspace, especially since this type of drone is easy to intercept. It flies at around 1,000 km/h, that’s very little. It’s big, so getting inside Russian airspace is out of the question. The Russians say this is an area that was dedicated to the military special operation. But in terms of air law, it has no value since in any case, because Ukrainian airspace is closed to all air traffic and the Russians cannot claim to control part of the international airspace under the pretext of a military special operation.