The Pentagon on Thursday released declassified video footage of the moments leading up to a Russian fighter jet smashing into a U.S. drone, forcing the American aircraft to come down into the Black Sea on Tuesday. The images appear to show two Sukhoi SU-27 fighter jets making approaches to the MQ-9 Reaper drone and dumping fuel in midair. The camera feed cuts before one of the jets collides with the drone’s propeller, forcing the drone’s remote operators to bring the unarmed reconnaissance aircraft into international waters off the coast of Russian-controlled Crimea. The Kremlin has denied the crash took place but said it would try and retrieve the wreckage. Unnamed military officials told CNN that Russia had already reached the crash site.
