Kirby on awarding Russian pilot that shot down US drone

US National Security Council Coordinator John Kirby responded to the incident during a briefing.

According to the official, the aggressive actions of Russian aviation against the American UAV are not at all a brave act that requires awards.

"I don’t know of another military in the world, another air force in the world that would award a pilot for smashing into a drone. If that’s bravery, then I guess they got a different definition of it. It’s ludicrous. It’s insulting. Now, we don’t know whether that pilot was trying to intentionally ram that drone or not, but he did. Video evidence was pretty conclusive," Kirby said.

The comment was made after Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu awarded the pilots with Orders of Courage following an incident over the Black Sea last week, when one of the Russian aircraft shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone.

"I have no clue why they would give a bravery award to a pilot who was, at worst, maliciously putting himself and US property at great risk and, at best, just an idiot," Kirby said.

• On March 14, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with an American MQ-9 Reaper drone in international airspace over the Black Sea. As a result of the incident, the drone was shot down. After the incident, the USA began negotiations with Russian at the "highest level" and summoned the Russian ambassador to Washington.

• The Kremlin was aware of the attack on the American military drone - the aggressive actions of the Russian fighter jets were approved in advance by the leadership.

• Russian Minister of Defense Shoigu awarded orders of courage to the pilots who shot down the American drone MQ-9 Reaper over the Black Sea.