US continues to fly in international waters of the Black Sea
The Pentagon said the US will continue flights in international waters of the Black Sea, if permitted by law.
According to RIA Novosti, Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said the US will continue to fly over international waters of the Black Sea.
“We will continue to fly, sail and operate in international waters and airspace as permitted by law.”
Ms Singh added that she had seen reports of the Russian Defense Ministry's position but could not comment on them.
Earlier on June 28, the Russian Defense Ministry reported an increase in the frequency of flights by US strategic drones over the Black Sea. The ministry stressed that these drones conduct reconnaissance and collect information. This information is then transmitted to Ukraine, so that Kiev can use high-precision weapons transferred by the West to the Ukrainian Armed Forces to carry out attacks on Russian territory. Therefore, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, this is an active participation of the US and NATO countries in the Ukrainian conflict.
The Defense Ministry added that such activities significantly increase the risk of incidents involving aerospace forces aircraft, increasing the risk of direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.
Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov on June 28 ordered the General Staff of the military to come up with proposals on how to promptly respond to "provocative actions" by US strategic drones operating over the Black Sea.
Russia’s warning did not mention Crimea. However, Russian military facilities in Crimea have been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian forces in recent times, using UAVs and Western-supplied missiles. The US Air Force has recently deployed RQ-48 Global Hawk reconnaissance UAVs in the Black Sea near Russian territory.
