Russia says it will attempt to retrieve wreckage of US drone in Black Sea

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russia said Wednesday that it will attempt to retrieve the wreckage of a US drone that crashed in the Black Sea.

“I don’t know if we will be able to get it or not, but we need to do it,” Nikolay Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council, said during an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel. “And we will definitely look into it.”

Patrushev said the US keeps saying it is not involved in hostilities against Russia but the crash of the drone proves otherwise.

Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov claimed earlier Wednesday that the US drone attempted to gather reconnaissance information to convey it to Ukraine for strikes against Russia.

Russia denied Tuesday that its fighter jets came into contact with the drone that Washington accused Moscow of bringing down in international airspace above the Black Sea.

The Pentagon previously said a Russian SU-27 fighter jet collided with the Reaper drone, bringing down the American aircraft.