MOSCOW. June 28 (Interfax) - U.S. drones are conducting reconnaissance over the Black Sea to the benefit of Ukraine, and the high frequency of their flights increases the risk of mid-air incidents, alongside the threat of a direct NATO-Russia confrontation, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.
"NATO members will be responsible for that," the ministry said in a statement.
"The Russian Defense Ministry has pointed to increasingly frequent flights performed by U.S. strategic unmanned aerial vehicles over the Black Sea to conduct reconnaissance and designate targets for precision-guided weapons supplied by Western states to the Ukrainian Armed Forces for strikes on Russian facilities," the statement said.
"This is proof of the growing involvement of the United States and NATO members in the Ukraine conflict on the side of the Kiev regime," it said.
"Such flights raise the probability of mid-air incidents with aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces manifold, thus increasing the risk of a direct confrontation between the alliance and the Russian Federation," it said.
"Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov has tasked the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff with submitting proposals on a rapid response to the provocations," it said.
On June 26, the ministry said that Belousov told U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin by phone about the risk of further escalation caused by the delivery of U.S. weapons to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.