Declassified video of the Tuesday drone crash involving a Russian fighter has been made public by the Pentagon.
A Russian military jet is seen in the footage dropping fuel near the drone as it flies overhead.
The drone’s damaged propeller is briefly visible in the intercept’s aftermath photo.
The declassified film, which lasts for roughly 40 seconds, was trimmed by the US military for length but still presents the events in chronological order, according to the Pentagon.
Only a small exerpt of the encounter has been released by the US, which does not show events before or afterwards.
The move was the first time an American aircraft had been brought down by a Russian warplane since the height of the Cold War, and sparked fears of an escalation between the two powers.
Russia has denied U.S. accusations that its jets acted recklessly in the incident on Tuesday over the Black Sea.
When asked this week if the incident could inflame tensions with Washington, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted that Russian jets didn’t use their weapons or impact the U.S. drone.
Peskov may have been technically correct- but the recently released footage clearly shows the jets interfering with the drone.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the collision as a ‘routine incident.’
He said: ‘As long as Russia controls Crimea, these kinds of incidents will be inevitable and the Black Sea will not be a safe place.
‘So the only way to prevent such incidents is actually to kick Russia out of Crimea.’
Russia said on Wednesday it would try to retrieve the remains the drone but appeared to acknowledge the challenges.
Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, said his country had the technological capability to recover the drone’s fragments, which are believed to be off the west coast of Crimea.
‘I don’t know whether we will be able to retrieve it or not, but that it has to be done. And we’ll certainly work on it. I hope, of course, successfully,’ he told state TV.
However, US General Mark Milley said the United States had already taken measures to guard against a loss of sensitive intelligence if the drone were to be recovered by Russia.
‘We’re quite confident that whatever was of value is no longer of value,’ Milley said.