For decades, Melven Jones couldn鈥檛 talk about what happened to him as a child. He didn鈥檛 even remember it.
Russia to prepare a 'response' to U.S. drones over Black Sea
Russia's defence minister ordered officials to prepare a 鈥渞esponse鈥 to U.S. drone flights over the Black Sea, the ministry said Friday, in an apparent warning that Moscow may take forceful action to ward off the American reconnaissance aircraft.
The Russian Defense Ministry noted a recent 鈥渋ncreased intensity鈥 of U.S. drones over the Black Sea, saying they 鈥渃onduct intelligence and targeting for precision weapons supplied to the Ukrainian military by Western countries for strikes on Russian facilities.鈥
鈥淚t shows an increased involvement of the U.S. and other NATO countries in the conflict in Ukraine on the side of the Kyiv regime,鈥 the ministry said in a statement.
It noted that 鈥渟uch flights significantly increase the probability of incidents involving Russian military aircraft, which increases the risk of direct confrontation between the alliance and the Russian Federation.鈥
鈥淣ATO members will bear responsibility for that,鈥 it added.
The ministry said that Defense Minister Andrei Belousov has directed the General Staff to 鈥渕ake proposals on measures of operative response to provocations.鈥
Washington and Moscow have clashed before over the issue. In March 2023, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet damaged a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone, causing it to crash into the Black Sea. It was the first direct clash between Russian and U.S. forces since the Cold War.
A repeat of such a confrontation could further fuel tensions over the war in Ukraine.
The Pentagon and U.S. European Command said after the incident that two Russian Su-27 aircraft dumped fuel on the MQ-9, which was conducting a routine surveillance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace.
The Russian Defense Ministry said then that the U.S. drone was flying near the Russian border and intruded into an area that was declared off-limits by Russian authorities.
Russia has declared broad areas near Crimea off-limits to flights. Ever since Russia's 2014 illegal annexation of Crimea and long before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow accused U.S. surveillance planes of flying too close to its borders while ignoring the notices issued by Russia.
Friday's Russian statement follows a Ukrainian attack on Sevastopol over the weekend with U.S.-made ATACMS missiles, which killed four and injured about 150, according to Russian authorities.
Russian officials have claimed that the U.S. was directly involved in the attack by providing intelligence and targeting and warned to take retaliatory measures.
Also Friday, the Belarusian military said it has beefed up its forces along Ukraine鈥檚 northern border in response to what it described as security threats.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that it has deployed multiple rocket launchers in an unspecified section of the 1,084-kilometer (700-mile) border.
Belarus鈥 authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has close ties with Russia and allowed Moscow to use his country鈥檚 territory to invade Ukraine in February 2022.
The Belarusian announcement came after the country鈥檚 border agency claimed its troops downed a Ukrainian drone that flew across the border to gather intelligence.
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