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Russia awards pilots involved in confrontation with a U.S. drone over Black Sea

The United States accused Russia of an "unsafe" and "unprofessional" intercept of its MQ-9 Reaper surveillance drone that forced it to be brought down over the Black Sea this week
In a screen grab of a video clip released by the U.S. Defense Department's European Command, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet flies near a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone, spraying it with what appears to be jet fuel, on Mar. 14 over the Black Sea.

MOSCOW — Russia's Defense Ministry has awarded state honors to the pilots of two fighter jets the U.S. has accused of forcing down an American Reaper drone over the Black Sea earlier this week — the

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