A video circulating on social media allegedly shows a drone, purportedly from the U.S., flying over the Black Sea before being grounded.
News that two Russian fighter jet pilots forced down a United States drone traveling over the Black Sea, has marked a potentially dramatic escalation between Russian forces and U.S. military operating near Ukraine.
According to military officials, the pilots had repeatedly dumped fuel onto the drone and flew in front of it in a «reckless» and «unprofessional» manner before a collision brought the surveillance equipment down.
Amid this, one video began appearing on social media, purportedly showing the drone flying over the Black Sea before it was grounded.
The Claim
Multiple tweets posted on March 15, 2023, included a video of a drone claimed to be the MQ-9 taken down over the Black Sea.
One tweet by user @Tendar, posted on March 15, 2023, which has been viewed 142,000 times, said: «One Russian pilots released a video of a flyby next to American MQ-9 Reaper drone. Could be from yesterday. According [sic] the Pentagon Russians did. many flybys until one of the Russian planes destroyed the propeller of the Reaper.»
User @Capt_Navy’s post, seen 148,000 times, said: «#MQ9 #drone View of the USAF [American flag emoji] MQ-9 drone from the cockpit of the [Russian flag emoji] Russian Su-27fighter»
Another tweet by @runews, viewed 70,000 times, said: «Say hello to the U.S. drone.»
The Facts
Although we can’t conclude with certainty whether the footage here is real or simulated, context provides reason to consider that it might not be of the MQ-9 drone that went down over the Black Sea.
