NBC News reports.
The destruction of the US military drone was approved by the Kremlin, according to US officials familiar with the intelligence. The intention was to "be aggressive in the intercept."
Russian jets dropped jet fuel on the MQ-9 Reaper, an unprecedented action, and two officials said the intent was to throw the drone off course or disable its surveillance capabilities.
Washington officials noted that there is no evidence that the signoff went all the way up to Putin. It is only known that the highest level of leadership was aware of the actions of two Russian Su-27s in the Black Sea.
According to U.S. officials, the Russians have already reached the area of the drone's crash and are conducting an active search. However, there are no signs that they have found anything yet.
On March 14, in international airspace over the Black Sea, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with an American MQ-9 Reaper drone. The drone was shot down as a result of the incident. After the case, the United States began negotiations with Russia at the "highest level" and summoned the Russian ambassador to Washington.
Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said after the incident with the US drone that Moscow did not want a confrontation with the United States, but "American aircraft have no business being near the Russian border."
On March 15, the White House said that the drone incident would not prevent the United States from flying over the Black Sea.