American drone flights over the Black Sea continue, although it maintains its distance

The US military sent another spy drone over the Black Sea on Friday, keeping far away from the restricted airspace in which a MQ-9 drone crashed earlier this week after being intercepted by Russian jets. Flight tracking sites showed an UAV with the callsign Forte10, identified as a RQ-4 Global Hawk, circling over Romanian airspace before flying south and east. The mission took only two hours, instead of the usual 12, and was the first such flight since Tuesday's incident. The Pentagon had previously said another drone had been dispatched to monitor the possible salvage operation by the Russian Navy. The US military's European Command accused the Russian pilots of "unsafe and unprofessional" flying, eventually releasing a video that shows jets repeatedly dousing the drone with fuel.

The drone crashed after a Russian jet struck its propeller. The Russian military said neither airplane made contact with the UAV, and the Pentagon's top military and civilian leadership reached out to their Russian counterparts for the first time in months. Ambassador Anatoly Antonov conveyed to his hosts the position that US drones have no business flying so close to Russia. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said both pilots will receive an award for their actions. The US military said on Thursday it was "weighing the costs and benefits" of further drone operations and "taking a close look" at their routes in order to reduce the risk of more incidents.

Washington has admitted to providing Ukraine with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance information in the conflict against Russia, while insisting it is not a party to the hostilities. US and NATO spy aircraft routinely fly over the Black Sea and approach Crimea, sometimes just before Ukrainian forces launch attacks on the Russian peninsula.