The Russian government has expressed its concern over what it perceives as increased US spying activities on its territory, following the incident involving a US surveillance drone which crashed in Russia-controlled waters in the Black Sea.
In a statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the government made clear that it believes the incident was linked to the US’s “increased spying activities in the region”.
The statement also called on the US to “take steps to avoid such incidents in the future”.
The US has yet to comment on the incident, but the Pentagon has confirmed that the drone was used in a surveillance mission and that it had been operating in international waters.
It remains unclear how the drone came to crash in Russian-controlled waters, but the incident is likely to increase tensions between the two countries.