text: WASHINGTON – A US military MQ-9 surveillance drone crashed into the Black Sea on Tuesday after being intercepted by Russian fighter jets, in the first such incident since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more than a year ago.

The Pentagon said one of the Russian Su-27 jets struck the propeller of the drone, making it inoperable, while Russia’s Defence Ministry blamed “sharp manoeuvring” of the unmanned drone for the crash and said its jets did not make contact.

Although no lives were lost, it was a reminder of the risk of direct confrontation between the United States and Russia over Ukraine, which has been supported by its Western allies with intelligence and weapons since Moscow invaded it more than a year ago.

Nato’s Supreme Allied Commander NAME_1, US Army General NAME_2, briefed Nato allies about the incident, which was roundly condemned by the White House and the Pentagon – where officials warned of the risk of escalation.

The US State Department summoned Russia’s ambassador over the incident.

Two Russian Su-27 jets carried out what the US military described as a reckless intercept of the American spy drone. It said the Russian fighter jets dumped fuel on the MQ-9 – possibly trying to blind or damage it – and flew in front of it in unsafe manoeuvres.

Extract triples from the text above in the format (subject, relation, object): Your answer should have exactly 5 paragraphs. Make sure that the last paragraph starts with the word "still" and that each paragraph is separated by two new lines.
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