Ukraine Update…383 days into the Russian move on the Ukraine…Drone…..

Here’s the latest on the Ukraine war and its ripple effects across the globe.

• A Russian Su-27 aircraft struck the propeller of the MQ-9, causing U.S. Air Force pilots to bring the drone down in international waters around 7 a.m. local time, the U.S. military said. Several times before the collision, that Su-27 and another one dumped fuel on and flew in front of the aircraft, maneuvers the U.S. military described as “reckless, environmentally unsound and unprofessional.”
• The MQ-9 was conducting an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission when it encountered Russian aircraft in the Black Sea region, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said at a briefing Tuesday. Russian forces were not able to recover the drone after U.S. Air Force pilots deliberately crashed the aircraft, Ryder said.
• Russia’s Defense Ministry said Tuesday that the U.S. drone was flying with its transponders turned off “in the direction of the state border of the Russian Federation.” In a statement, the ministry said that its air defense forces attempted to identify the aircraft, after which the MQ-9 “went into uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude.” No weapons were used in the confrontation, the statement said.

• Some potential GOP presidential contenders, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, said Tuesday that opposing Russia in Ukraine is not a vital American interest. Tucker Carlson of Fox News published statements from former president Donald Trump, DeSantis and former vice president Mike Pence, among other potential hopefuls. DeSantis dismissed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “territorial dispute.” Pence was in the minority in saying that he backed continued support for Ukraine, in line with top congressional Republicans.
• At least two people died in strikes in Ukraine’s east and northeast on Tuesday morning, according to officials. The situation in the east, including in Bakhmut, is “very tough,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.
• Russia agreed to extend the Black Sea grain deal that aims to prevent a global food crisis by letting Ukraine export vital food sources from its southern coast, “but only for 60 days,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said. That is half the length of the previous renewal, agreed to in November. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described the extension as a “goodwill gesture” in a news conference Tuesday.
• Russia does not recognize the International Criminal Court’s jurisdiction, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the state-owned Tass news agency. He was responding to reports that the ICC was preparing to open cases against Russians after an investigation launched last year by its chief prosecutor into allegations of war crimes committed on Ukrainian territory.
• Washington Post photos from the scene: Aftermath of a Russian missile strike in Kramatorsk on Tuesday….

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