On Wednesday, March 22, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu presented awards to pilots of Su-27 fighters who had previously prevented a violation by the American MQ-9 Reaper drone in the sky over the Black Sea.

"The Order of Courage was awarded to pilots of Su-27 aircraft who prevented the violation by the American MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle of the boundaries of the area of the temporary regime for the use of airspace established for the purpose of conducting a special military operation," the ministry said in a statement.

As previously noted in the Ministry of Defense, on the morning of March 14, a flight of the MQ-9 Reaper reconnaissance and strike UAV in the direction of the Russian border was recorded over the Black Sea near the Crimea by means of airspace control.

To identify the intruder, fighters from the duty forces were lifted into the air. As a result of sharp maneuvering, the drone went into uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface.

As emphasized in the defense Ministry, russian aircraft did not use on-board weapons, did not come into contact with UAVs and safely returned to the home airfield.

Also on the russian.rt.com Prevented a violation: Shoigu presented the crews of the Su-27 to the awards after the incident with the American drone

Pilots at the award ceremony said that two crews took off, identified the drone as an MQ-9 Reaper, transmitted information about this and began maneuvers with which they tried to force the UAV operator to stop performing his task.

"After the flight, we got close to this unmanned aerial vehicle, made its identification and performed maneuvers to force it to refuse to perform its task," said one of the pilots who received the award. He stressed that this award also belongs to his colleagues who participated in the provision of flights.

Female servicemen destroyed a UAV in Sevastopol

During a meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Sergei Shoigu also ordered to award female servicemen who destroyed drones that took part in the attack on Sevastopol on the morning of March 22.

"All three vehicles have been destroyed. What I would like to draw your attention to: two devices were destroyed by the senior sailor of the contract service Faleeva Marina Alexandrovna and the chief petty officer Tseluyko Tatyana Vitalievna, "the minister said at a meeting of the board of the Ministry of Defense of Russia.

Shoigu said that he instructed to present the girls with awards and write out a cash prize for the destruction of enemy facilities.

Earlier, the governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev, announced the repulse of the attack of surface drones. According to him, the objects tried to penetrate the bay, but the sailors opened fire on them from small arms, and the air defense system also worked on the air target.

According to Razvozhaev, as a result of the detonation of destroyed marine drones, glass was broken in a number of buildings, but no one was injured. As the governor emphasized, the Russian military confidently repelled the attack.

Work of video conferencing in the SVO zone

During his speech, Shoigu also spoke about the work of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation in the zone of a special military operation. According to him, during the SVO, up to 90% of the crews of operational-tactical and army aviation, 60% of strategic and long-range aviation, 85% of the personnel of complexes with UAVs received combat experience.

As Shoigu specified, during the special operation, the pilots made more than 140 thousand combat sorties and destroyed more than 20 thousand enemy objects.

In addition, the minister noted, important tasks in the SVO zone are performed by pilots of military transport aviation, who deliver cargo and personnel around the clock.

Summary of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on the progress of the SVO

In turn, the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, spoke about the progress of the CVO during the briefing. So, in the Kupyansk direction, artillery fire of the Western group of troops destroyed more than 50 militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, two armored vehicles, two cars, a 2S3 Acacia self-propelled howitzer, as well as an ammunition depot of the 103rd territorial defense brigade.

In the Krasnolimansky direction, the attacks of operational-tactical aviation, artillery fire and heavy flamethrower systems of the "Center" group of troops hit the enemy's manpower and equipment. More than 90 Ukrainian soldiers, two armored fighting vehicles, three pickup trucks, Gvozdika self-propelled guns and a D-30 howitzer were destroyed.

  • Briefing by the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation

In the Donetsk direction, as a result of the active actions of the units of the Southern Group of Forces, air strikes, artillery fire and heavy flamethrower systems, the enemy lost more than 300 people, three armored vehicles, three cars, an Acacia self-propelled artillery installation, as well as a D-20 howitzer during the day.

In the South-Donetsk and Zaporizhia directions, the strikes of operational-tactical aviation and artillery fire of the Vostok group of troops hit the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the area of several settlements in the territory of the DPR and Zaporizhia region controlled by Kiev. According to the MoD, the enemy lost up to 40 troops, three vehicles and an M777 howitzer here. Along with this, a fuel depot for military equipment of the 102nd Territorial Defense Brigade was destroyed.

In the Kherson direction, as a result of the enemy's fire defeat, up to 20 Ukrainian soldiers, two cars and the Gvozdika self-propelled gun were destroyed.

Russian aviation, missile troops and artillery defeated 83 artillery units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in firing positions, manpower and equipment in 112 districts during the day.

On the territory of the Shkolny airfield near Odessa, two hangars with weapons and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were hit.

In turn, the fighter aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces shot down a Mi-8 helicopter of the Air Force of Ukraine in the sky over the Kharkiv region. Air defense systems shot down 26 drones and three rockets of the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system during the day.