The reconnaissance aircraft was circling the area for about two days prior to the attack.
Aircarft of this type are regularly stationed off the Crimean coast, along with RQ-4 Global Hawk high-altitude reconnaissance planes and US Air Force E-3A Sentry long-range radar detection aircraft.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) code of the aircraft is AE683C.
In addition, the same reconnaissance aircraft was noticed over the Barents Sea on September 18 and over the Baltic Sea near Russia's Kaliningrad Region on September 19 and 21.
Sevastopol Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev earlier said that the headquarters of Russia's Black Sea Fleet in the city was shelled by the Ukrainian forces. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the building was damaged, and one serviceman went missing.