Russian Pilots to Be Awarded After US Drone Incident

The pilots of the Russian jets that scrambled to identify an American drone performing a surveillance mission over the Black Sea have been nominated for decorations, the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu “has put forward for state awards the pilots of the Su-27 aircraft who prevented the US MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle from violating” the restricted flight zone that was established by Moscow amid the Ukraine conflict, the ministry’s statement read, RT reported.

It added that the borders of the area in question had been made known to all users of international airspace.

The ministry, however, did not provide any personal information about the pilots, nor did it reveal what rewards they might receive.