March 14, 2023 - Russia-Ukraine news

Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov arrived at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday afternoon after being summoned following the incident that resulted in the downing of a US Reaper drone over the Black Sea.

Antonov did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Antonov is expected to meet with Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Karen Donfried, a senior State Department official said.

Antonov was summoned to "convey our strong objections," State Dept spokesman Ned Price said on Tuesday.

In addition, the US Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy “has conveyed a strong message to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Price said.

A Russian fighter jet forcing down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea was a "reckless act" by President Vladimir Putin and the Russian military, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Tuesday.

"I want to tell Mr. Putin, stop this behavior before you are the cause of an unintended escalation," he said.

 He said the interception will not deter the United States from operating over the Black Sea.

Some background: The Russian ministry of defense on Tuesday denied that any of its aircraft came into contact with the US drone.

A Russian fighter aircraft "did not use airborne weapons or come into contact" with a US Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone over the Black Sea, the Russian defense ministry said in a statement Tuesday. 

The ministry said that Russian fighter jets "scrambled to identify the intruder."

"As a result of quick maneuvering around 9.30 a.m. (Moscow time), the MQ-9 drone went into an unguided flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface," the ministry said. 

Some more context: Earlier today, the US Air Force said a Russian fighter jet forced down a US Air Force drone over the Black Sea after damaging the propeller of the drone. The White House is calling Moscow's actions "unsafe, unprofessional and reckless."

While Russian and US aircraft have operated over the Black Sea during the Ukraine war, this is the first known interaction of this nature since the conflict began, and a potentially dangerous escalation at a critical time in the fighting.

Russian aircraft were flying alongside a US Reaper drone for 30 to 40 minutes before they collided with it, ultimately causing it to crash, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder said Tuesday.

The United States has been conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions in international waters in the Black Sea “for some time,” including before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a Pentagon spokesperson said Tuesday.

Ryder said that Russia has not recovered the downed drone. 

Ryder would not say whether the MQ-9 drone was armed, but added that the Defense Department is working to declassify imagery from the intercept.

The US State Department is summoning the Russian ambassador to convey its "strong objections" to the downing of a US Reaper drone over the Black Sea, a spokesperson said.

The “high-level engagement” with Ambassador Anatoly Antonov was expected to take place later Tuesday afternoon, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

During the meeting, the ambassador will “hear directly from senior officials about our strong objections to what was clearly an unsafe and unprofessional intercept on the part of a Russian aircraft," the spokesperson said.

In Moscow, US Ambassador Lynne Tracy “has conveyed a strong message to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs” about the incident, according to Price. 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is currently traveling and is not in Washington, DC.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has not spoken to his Russian counterpart about the Russian aircraft intercepting a US Reaper drone, resulting in its downing over international waters.

The MQ-9 Reaper drone was conducting “routine operations in international airspace” on Tuesday when two Russian Su-27 aircraft intercepted it, a US military statement said.

One of the Russian aircraft hit the drone, resulting in “a crash and complete loss” of the drone, Air Force Gen. James B. Hecker, commander of US Air Forces Europe and Air Forces Africa said.

The owner of a car blown up Tuesday in the center of the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol has died in the hospital from his wounds, the Russian-backed regional administration said in a Telegram post. 

Two others, a woman and a child, were also injured, according to Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the pro-Russian Zaporizhzhia region military-civilian administration.

All three have been hospitalized, he said. 

The explosion was carried out with an improvised explosive device, according to Rogov, and it happened near a market.

Rogov said a local pro-Russian entrepreneur was the target of the alleged attack. 

CNN is not able to independently verify those claims. 

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."