Russian fighter jets have again flown dangerously close to several US MQ-9 Reaper drones operating over Syria – the second such incident of harassment in 24 hours – setting off flares and forcing Washington's unmanned aerial vehicles to take evasive manoeuvres, the United States air force said. The protest from the US air forces came as the French military said that two of its fighter jets on patrol over the Iraq-Syria border area were forced to manoeuvre "to control the risk of accident" involving a Russian Sukhoi SU-35 warplane on Thursday. The Russian aircraft had engaged in "non-professional interaction" with two of France's Rafale planes deployed to the region as part of "Operation Chammal", which seeks to contain the ISIL (ISIS) group in Iraq and Syria, the French military said. Two separate incidents on Wednesday and Thursday involving Russian warplanes and US Reaper drones were captured on video, the US said. "The events represent a new level of unprofessional and unsafe action by Russian air forces operating in Syria," the US military said.

A Russian fighter jet has hit a US military drone over international waters, crashing the drone. The MQ-9 Reaper drone and two SU-27 craft were all flying above the Black Sea, and according to the US military's European Command, the Russian planes dumped fuel on the drone and flew in front of it dangerously, and eventually one of them hit the drone's propeller, forcing the US to bring down the drone. "This unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians nearly caused both aircraft to crash," said US Air Force commander James B. Hecker in a press release. He also stated that the drone was "conducting routine operations" and that this incident will not stop US aircraft from operating in international airspace. Drones like this one have been operating over the Black Sea since well before the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war to monitor the situation in Ukraine.

Belarus has detained several people over what it calls an attempted act of sabotage at a Belarusian airfield, President Alexander Lukashenko was cited as saying. Belarusian anti-government activists said last month that they had blown up a sophisticated Russian military aircraft – a Beriev A-50 surveillance plane – in a drone attack at an airfield near the Belarusian capital Minsk, a claim disputed by Moscow and Minsk. "To date, more than 20 accomplices who are in Belarus have been detained. The rest are hiding," said Lukashenko, a key Kremlin ally, according to state news agency Belta. He identified the presumed main culprit as a dual national of Ukraine and Russia.

Former U.S. ambassador to NATO provides insight on a potentially pivotal setback for Russia in its war on Ukraine on'The Story.' MSNBC contributor Barry R. McCaffrey, a retired four-star general, shared a video Monday of what he appeared to think was a Russian plane being shot down by Ukraine, but deleted the tweet after being informed it occurred in an animated video game. According to images of the original tweet, McCaffrey tweeted an animated image from the video game "Arma 3." MSNBC's Brian R. McCaffrey, a retired four star general, shared video of a Russian plane being shot down by Ukraine on Monday but deleted the tweet after being informed it occurred in an animated video game. McCaffrey wrote in the since-deleted tweet, "Russian aircraft getting nailed by UKR missile defense. Russians are losing large numbers of attack aircraft. UKR air defense becoming formidable," to accompany the animated image from the video game.