The US continues to fly in international waters of the Black Sea.
The Pentagon said the U.S. 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 in the Black Sea.
"We will continue to fly, move warships, and operate in international waters and airspace whenever permitted by law."
Ms. Singh added that she had seen reports on the Russian Ministry of Defence's position but could not comment on them.
Earlier on June 28, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported an increasing intensity of US strategic drone flights over the Black Sea. The ministry emphasized that these drones conduct reconnaissance and gather intelligence. This information is then transmitted to Ukraine, enabling Kyiv to use high-precision weapons supplied by the West to the Ukrainian armed forces to carry out attacks on Russian territory. Therefore, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, this represents active involvement of the US and NATO countries in the Ukrainian conflict.
The Defense Ministry added that such activity significantly increases the risk of incidents involving aerospace forces aircraft, raising the risk of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russia.
On June 28, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov ordered the General Staff of the armed forces to submit proposals on how to respond promptly 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 the past, using UAVs and Western-supplied missiles. Recently, the US Air Force deployed RQ-48 Global Hawk reconnaissance UAVs in Black Sea airspace near Russian territory.
