"We are well aware of the missions such reconnaissance and strike drones are used for. According to National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby, US UAVs make these kinds of overflights on a daily basis. What do they do thousands of miles away from the United States? The answer is obvious," Antonov told reporters.
US drones "gather intelligence which is later used by the Kiev regime to attack our Armed Forces and territory... We proceed from the fact that the United States will refrain from further speculations in the media landscape and stop making sorties near the Russian borders," he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Antonov was summoned to the US State Department over the US drone crash incident.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the US MQ-9 drone fell in the Black Sea as a result of engaging in sharp maneuvering and the Russian fighter jets sent to intercept it did not come into contact with it nor used weapons against it.
The ministry said the air control of the Russian Aerospace Forces recorded the flight of the drone in the region of the Crimean peninsula in the direction of the Russian border.
The flight was carried out with the aircraft’s transponder turned off, violating the boundaries of the area of the temporary regime for the use of the airspace, which was established for the purpose of conducting Russia’s special military operation and communicated to all users as well as published in accordance with international standards, the Defense Ministry said, adding that Russian fighter jets were scrambled to identify the intruder.
The US European Command (EUCOM) issued a release saying the incident involved a Russian Su-27 aircraft, which allegedly struck the drone’s propeller during an "unsafe and unprofessional intercept" over the Black Sea. EUCOM added that the incident resulted in a "complete loss" of the drone.