FACT CHECK: Did Russia Shoot Down A US Drone Over The Black Sea?

A post shared on X claims that Russia downed a US drone over the Black Sea.

🚨🚨🚨Update: Russian revenge!! Reports are coming out that Russian air defense forces shot down an American RQ-4 Global Hawk, a $100 million dollar drone over the Black Sea!!! 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/UyxlzAREkw

— US Civil Defense News (@CaptCoronado) June 24, 2024

Verdict: Misleading

There is no evidence that this occurred. U.S. defense officials have denied the claim, and Russian authorities have not confirmed it.

Fact Check:

Social media users are claiming that Russia shot down an American drone over the Black Sea, with others specifically claiming it was an RQ-4 Global Hawk.

“Update: Russian revenge!! Reports are coming out that Russian air defense forces shot down an American RQ-4 Global Hawk, a $100 million dollar drone over the Black Sea!!!” one post reads.

There is no evidence for this claim. If this had occurred, media outlets would have covered it, yet none have. U.S. defense officials denied the claim.

A U.S. Air Force Europe and Africa spokesperson told Check Your Fact that “no U.S. drones have been shot down in or near the Black [S]ea.”

A U.S. military official told Reuters reporter Idrees Ali that “no incident has been reported over the Black Sea.” Another official told Semafor’s Mathias Hammer that they “have not seen any evidence of this to be factual.”

A U.S. military official says no incident has been reported over the Black Sea. https://t.co/8IlkKoUA3D

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) June 24, 2024

“We have not seen any evidence of this to be factual,” a US official told me, regarding the widespread rumors on Telegram that Russia has downed a US UAV. https://t.co/7hxl28sNcW

— Mathias Gjesdal Hammer (@GjesdalHammer) June 24, 2024

The claim stems from FighterBomber, a Russian Telegram channel with close ties to the Russian Aerospace Forces, according to Newsweek. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “[t]o be honest, I don’t have this kind of information” when asked about the alleged incident, the Moscow Times reported.

Flightradar24 often tracks military activity around Ukraine. Chris Lomas, an aviation content specialist for Flightradar24, told Check Your Fact in an email they could not “confirm or deny” any claims at the time.

“Whilst we do sometimes see drone activity on Flightradar24, the levels of GPS interference in the Black Sea area make it very difficult to be sure of their flight paths. As such, we won’t be able to confirm or deny any specific active it at this time,” Lomas said.