RUSSIA’S DENIAL: The Pentagon says Russia’s early morning interaction with a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone that sent it crashing into the Black Sea was the result of “very unprofessional, unsafe airmanship” by the pilots of two Russian Su-27 fighter jets.

“Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. James Hecker, commander of U.S. Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa in a statement. “In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash.”