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Turkey has shot down an uncontrolled drone that was approaching its airspace over the Black Sea, in a rare military intervention by the Nato member.
The incident follows warnings by Turkey of escalating risks in and around the Black Sea after Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports damaged three Turkish-owned cargo vessels last week.
Turkish and Nato F-16 jets were put on alert after an air trail was detected approaching Turkish airspace, the defence ministry said in a statement late on Monday.
The aerial trail “was identified as [belonging to] an unmanned aerial vehicle that had gone out of control; to avoid any potential harm, it was shot down in a safe area outside of populated areas,” Turkey’s defence ministry said. It was unclear if the drone was Ukrainian or Russian.
Turkey, which has a northern Black Sea coastline, maintains good relations with both Moscow and Kyiv, and there are no confirmed previous cases of a Ukrainian or Russian aerial drone entering its airspace since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than three years ago.
However, there have been a spate of recent marine incidents involving Turkey, which controls the Bosphorus Strait, a key passage for transporting Ukrainian grain and Russian oil towards the Mediterranean.
Two Russia-connected oil tankers associated with Moscow’s “shadow fleet” were hit while sailing within Turkey’s exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea at the end of November. Ukraine claimed responsibility for the attacks, which used Sea Baby naval drones. There were no reported casualties.
A third Russian-flagged tanker, this time laden with sunflower oil, also reported a drone strike in early December while sailing in Turkish waters. Kyiv denied any involvement and responsibility for the incident remains unclear.
Separately, three Turkish-flagged vessels were damaged last week during Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Black Seas ports of Chornomorsk and Odesa, days after Moscow threatened to cut off Ukraine from the sea.
Turkey has repeatedly cast itself as a mediator in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. On Friday, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at an international peace conference in Turkmenistan where he suggested that “a limited ceasefire” for Black Sea ports and energy facilities would be “beneficial”.
“The Black Sea should not be seen as a battleground. Such a situation would only harm Russia and Ukraine,” Erdoğan subsequently said of their meeting. “Everyone needs safe navigation in the Black Sea. This must be ensured.”
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