Why did Russia bring down the Reaper drone?

Russia‘s downing of a U.S. Air Force Reaper MQ-9 surveillance drone over the Black Sea this week has become a new inflection point in the war in Ukraine.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has presented the pilots involved with awards. Belying video evidence which showed a Russian pilot flew into the drone, he blamed a mix of U.S. arrogance and error for the vehicle’s loss. Regardless, far too much attention is being given to the actual event itself and not enough as to why Russia did what it did.