The US is warning Russia against an escalation after a collision between a US spy drone and a Russian fighter jet in international airspace near Ukraine. Washington says a Russian plane hit its unmanned aircraft and forced it to crash into the Black Sea. Russia says there was no contact and described the incident as a provocation.

Moscow said the American drone sharply maneuvered and crashed after an encounter with Russian jets near Crimea, but insisted that Russian fighter jets didn't fire weapons or hit the drone. The Russian Defense Ministry said their fighters from air defense forces on duty were in the air to identify the "intruder" over the Black Sea.

The US said that a Russian fighter jet struck the propeller of the surveillance drone in "brazen violation of international law."

This the first direct encounter between Russia and the US since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year.