March 16, 2023

If you take seriously Tucker Carlson’s warning about the headlong rush to outright war with Russia that would justify the crushing of political dissent at home, then it is especially important to examine what Russia has to say about its downing of a US drone over the Black Sea. Accounts throughout the US media emphasize that the drone was over international waters and that the attack was unprovoked. Yet, oddly enough, a search using multiple search engines (Google was least helpful) yielded only fragmentary references to the statement issued by Russia’s ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov.

The most useful account came from a tweet by someone using the handle dana 916 (hat tip: Mark Wauck). Even though I don’t know who dana is, the quote is consistent with verbiage in less complete accounts found mostly in the overseas media, and seems completely plausible as something a Russian ambassador would say under the circumstances:

U.S. drones collect data that Kiev uses to strike Russia, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said. “We are concerned about the unacceptable activities of the US military in the immediate vicinity of our borders. We are well aware of the purpose for which such unmanned reconnaissance and strike vehicles are used,” the diplomat notes in a commentary due to the fact that an American MQ-9 drone crashed in the water area Black Sea. As Antonov recalled, John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, said that American devices make such flights on a daily basis. ” What are they doing thousands of kilometers from the United States? The answer is obvious: they are collecting intelligence information, which is subsequently used by the Kiev regime to strike at our armed forces and territory ,” the ambassador said. “We presume that the United States will refrain from further speculation in the media space and will stop flying near Russian borders ,” he added

I find the contention that the US drone was supplying targeting information believable. Why wouldn’t the US do so, especially given the fact that Elon Musk’s Starlink system has been used to enable battlefield communications for the Ukrainians to target Russian facilities?

Does this make the drone a legitimate target for Russia? I am no expert in the law of war, but the contention that the drone was supplying intelligence used for targeting weapons, if true, would make it an instrument of war against Russia.

RT, the Russian state-sponsored propaganda agency, makes some other interesting claims. Use skepticism, of course, and weigh these claims against what else you know and your common sense.

Where did this happen?

Neither the US nor Russia have provided any coordinates for the incident. The Americans argue that the drone was “operating within international airspace” over the Black Sea. The Russians claim the drone was inside the restricted airspace established for the special military operation, of which everyone was properly notified months ago. Unconfirmed reports in the Russian media put the drone’s location about 60 kilometers (37 miles) southwest of the Crimean port of Sevastopol.