March 14, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

The United States has briefed allies about Russia's downing of a US Reaper drone over the Black Sea, according to the State Department.

Spokesperson Ned Price said Tuesday the US was “not in position to speak to what the Russians intended to do” with the maneuvers that brought the drone down, but noted that “the motivations matter much less than what actually transpired.”

He said the US is "engaged at high levels with allies."

The US State Department’s Global Engagement Center on Tuesday released a new report outlining Russia’s attempts to spread disinformation about American and Ukrainian biological weapons. 

The eight-page report does not seem to present new information about the disinformation effort, but rather gives a comprehensive look at the widespread efforts on the matter, from the days of the Soviet Union to the current war in Ukraine.

The release of the report comes a day after a senior State Department official said that Russia and China have “clearly” aligned themselves on propaganda and disinformation regarding the war in Ukraine, and that the United States and the West have not invested enough over the years in countering such disinformation.

Tuesday’s report noted that “Russia, like the Soviet Union before it, has pushed false claims for decades about biological weapons in an attempt to create mistrust in the peaceful global efforts and public health institutions that counter biological threats.”

“Russia has a history of accusing others of doing what it is doing itself, and its recent biological weapons claims related to Ukraine are no different. The United States assesses that Russia continues to maintain an offensive biological weapons program in violation of its obligations under the Biological Weapons Convention,” the report added. 

The report gave numerous examples of the disinformation that Russia has promulgated since the start of the war, including one of its "most notable false claims is that the United States worked with Ukraine to train an army of migratory birds, mosquitos and even bats to carry biological weapons into Russia," which it added was "absurd."

The report described the false claims as being spread through "Russia’s disinformation and propaganda ecosystem, such as Kremlin-funded media outlets and Russian Intelligence-linked websites" and "so-called ‘experts'" who speak to the Russian press. 

It also highlighted Russia's parliamentary commission investigating what it alleges are US biological laboratories in Ukraine, which the report said spreads false information about biological weapons.

The US Reaper drone that crashed after being struck by a Russian fighter jet has not been recovered in the Black Sea, a spokesperson for US European Command said.

In an earlier statement the commander for US Air Forces Europe said the drone was “hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9," US Air Forces commander Gen. James Hecker said.

Some more context: CNN reported earlier a Russian fighter jet forced down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday after damaging the propeller of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone, according to a US official familiar with the incident.

The Reaper drone and two SU-27 Flanker jets were operating over international waters over the Black Sea when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel in front of the unmanned drone, according to the official.

President Joe Biden was briefed Tuesday morning by National security adviser Jake Sullivan about the incident, according to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby. US officials are planning to contact Russia to voice concern about the drone incident, according to Kirby.

The US will continue operating over the Black Sea and won't be deterred by Russia's intercept of a drone in international airspace, a White House official said Tuesday.

"If the message is that they want to deter or dissuade us from flying and operating in international airspace, over the Black Sea, then that message will fail, because that is not going to happen," said John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council.

Kirby repeatedly described the Russian intercept of the American drone as "unsafe" and "unprofessional," suggesting the actions went beyond previous Russian efforts at intercepting US aircraft.

He said the presence of American drones in the area was not new.

"We have been flying consistently over that airspace or a year," he said, arguing there was no reason to activate deconfliction lines with Russia or otherwise notify Moscow before flying over the Black Sea.

US President Joe Biden was briefed Tuesday morning about an incident between a US drone and a Russian jet over the Black Sea.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan briefed Biden on the matter, according to National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby. 

He said it was "not uncommon" for Russian aircraft to intercept US aircraft over the Black Sea, and said there had been other intercepts in recent weeks.

But he said the episode Tuesday was unique in how "unsafe, unprofessional and reckless" the Russian actions were.

US officials are planning to contact Russia to voice concern about the drone incident, according to Kirby.

"It is the State Department's intention to reach out and expressly and directly make our concerns known about this incident with Russian officials," Kirby said. He couldn't say whether that outreach had occurred.

Kirby declined to speculate on the intentions of the Russian pilots.

Some more context: CNN reported earlier a Russian fighter jet forced down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday after damaging the propeller of the American MQ-9 Reaper drone, according to a US official familiar with the incident.

The Reaper drone and two SU-27 Flanker jets were operating over international waters over the Black Sea when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel in front of the unmanned drone, according to the official.

The intensity of shelling in the battle for the eastern city of Bakhmut has increased, but Russian infantry "cannot overcome our strongholds," a Ukrainian soldier currently fighting the city said Tuesday on Ukrainian national television. 

"On our flank, the intensity of fighting has increased significantly in recent days — the southern outskirts of Bakhmut, Ivanivske. The enemy is trying to get to the area of the so-called 'airplane' in Bakhmut and cut the Kostiantynivka-Bakhmut road," said Yurii Syrotiuk, a grenadier with the 5th Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, referring to Bakhmut's now-destroyed airplane monument, which was a symbol of the city.

Syrotiuk said Russian forces have so far been unsuccessful at reaching the area of where the airplane monument once stood.

"Unfortunately, the front has already advanced quite close to the entrance to Bakhmut. The enemy is trying to attack from the direction of Ivanivske, but unsuccessful; we are constantly repelling them with our counterattacks, the enemy is trying to cut the Kostiantynivka-Bakhmut road at any cost — to encircle Bakhmut," he said. 

Syrotiuk said that Russian infantry that cannot overcome Ukrainian strongholds are "pulling back, calling for their artillery, calling for aviation."

The Netherlands will send two minesweepers to Ukraine, along with drone detection radar systems and so-called M3 ferrying and bridge building systems, according to Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren.

In a statement Tuesday, the Dutch Defense Ministry outlined its plans to work with Belgium and possibly other allied countries to train Ukrainian forces in the use of the minesweepers.

Supplying minesweepers to Ukraine will “contribute to Black Sea safety, Europe's security and global food security," Ollongren said.

The defense minister spent the past few days in Ukraine visiting the southern cities of Mykolaiv and Odesa alongside her Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksiy Reznikov.

The two ministers discussed the strengthening of coastal defenses, the importance of maritime safety and protecting grain ships, according to the statement.

Ollongren highlighted the efforts of the Ukrainian forces, saying that although the Netherlands can provide Ukraine with “the material,” it is the Ukrainians themselves who are fighting “for every centimeter of [their] land.”

A Russian fighter jet forced down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea on Tuesday after damaging the propeller of a MQ-9 Reaper drone, according to a US official familiar with the incident.

The Reaper drone and two SU-27 Flanker jets were operating over international waters over the Black Sea when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel in front of the unmanned drone, according to the official. One of the jets then damaged the propeller of the Reaper, which is mounted on the rear of the drone, the official said. The damage to the propeller forced the US to bring down the Reaper in international waters in the Black Sea.

Russian and US aircraft have operated over the Black Sea during the course of the war, but this is the first known such interaction, a potentially dangerous escalation at a critical time in the fighting.

According to a statement from the US Air Force:

"Our MQ-9 aircraft was conducting routine operations in international airspace when it was intercepted and hit by a Russian aircraft, resulting in a crash and complete loss of the MQ-9," said US Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa, according to the Air Force statement. "In fact, this unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash."

"U.S. and Allied aircraft will continue to operate in international airspace and we call on the Russians to conduct themselves professionally and safely," Hecker added, according to the statement. 

Some context: The US has been operating Reaper drones over the Black Sea since before the beginning of the war, using the spy drone to monitor the area. The Reaper drone can fly as high as 50,000 feet, according to the Air Force, and has the sensors and capabilities to gather intel and perform reconnaissance for extended periods of time, making it an ideal platform to track movements on the battlefield and in the Black Sea.

Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on Tuesday adopted the third and final reading of a bill that introduces criminal liability for discrediting all participants, including volunteers, in the so-called "special military operation."

The law now extends the Article 207.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation on liability for "fakes" about the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to volunteer formations. Public dissemination of deliberately false information about the Russian Armed Forces, as well as volunteer formations, which had grave consequences, will see offenders facing up to 15 years in prison.

What's next?: The bill has to pass the upper house of parliament, the Federation Council, and be signed into law by President Vladimir Putin. 

In January, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the private military company Wagner Group, which is considered a volunteer formation, appealed to the Russian State Duma to issue protections for the volunteers and convicts who fight as Wagner mercenaries in Ukraine.

Later in March, Prigozhin wrote another letter to the State Duma speaker Volodin, asking him to exclude “constructive criticism” of Russia’s top military officials and Wagner commanders, from the draft bill. 

Prigozhin himself has often been critical of the Russian Defense Ministry, has frequently alluded to the tension in the relationship with the ministry, and has pointed out that some of the top Russian generals have not visited the frontline positions around the eastern city of Bakhmut.