Rewritten Overview of MQ-9 Reaper Incident in the Black Sea

Officials from the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the discovery of a crashed American unmanned aerial vehicle, the MQ-9 Reaper, in the Black Sea on March 14, the day the incident occurred. The release notes cite a source close to the ministry familiar with the details of what happened. The discovery location was reported to be roughly 60 kilometers from the coast, with underwater search work carried out from Sevastopol using an undersea robot. The drone was located at a depth estimated between 850 and 900 meters, in proximity to the deep-water section of the South Stream gas pipeline. The source emphasized that a Russian warship remains on duty near the crash site and that the perimeter around the incident area is being protected while experts determine the next steps to retrieve the UAV from the seafloor. To lift the drone, authorities are reportedly considering equipment typically used to raise submerged deep-sea submarines. Earlier, The Hill cited a US Air Force source indicating that Washington had not yet recovered the drone but was treating the device with high priority and emphasizing protective measures. On March 15, the Pentagon reported that Russian Su-27 fighters intercepted an American MQ-9 Reaper in the Black Sea region, with one of the Russian aircraft striking the drone with a wing and damaging its propeller, after which the United States reportedly had to bring the drone down. The sequence of events has drawn attention from defense and security observers across North America and Europe, given the implications for airspace management, unmanned systems operations, and international military incidents in contested sea regions.