"Russian pilots acted extremely professionally taking timely measures to avoid a collision with the coalition's UAVs," Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit told a news briefing.
A large MQ-9 Reaper drone closed in on a Russian Su-35 jet in the sky over Raqqa on Saturday morning. The second instance of dangerous behavior by another US-made Reaper drone happened near the northwestern town of Ed Dana in Idlib province just hours later when the unmanned aircraft flew less than 100 meters (328 feet) away from a Su-35.