A Russian aircraft has collided with a US unmanned aircraft in international airspace over the Black Sea, causing the latter to crash.
Two Su-27 planes had attempted to intercept the US drone – named MQ-9 – by dumping fuel in front of it several times before the collision.
This was an attempt to damage the aircraft.
At approximately 7.03am CET (6.03am GMT) one of the Russian aircraft struck the propeller of the MQ-9 drone, causing US forces to bring the unmanned aircraft down.
A statement from US European command described the Russian manoeuvres as reckless, unprofessional and environmentally unsound.
The drone was on a routine flight in accordance with international laws to bolster collective European defence and security, it said.
Image: MQ-9 Reaper drone. AP file pic
This is the latest in a series of dangerous Russian piloting, the statement said, which could lead to “unintended escalation”.
US Air Force General James Hecker described the incident as an “unsafe and unprofessional act by the Russians” which has led to the complete loss of an MQ-9.
White House spokesman John Kirby added that while there have been other intercepts, this one is particularly noteworthy because it was “unsafe and unprofessional”.
MQ-9 drone versus Su-27 fighter jet
The MQ-9 Reaper is a remotely piloted drone used for surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as attack missions.
Whereas the Su-27 fighter jet is a Soviet-era invention originally built in 1982 to counter powerful US plane technology.
The former can be equipped with missiles, but the one that crashed on Tuesday was an intelligence aircraft, according to US European command.
The latter is armed with a 30mm gun, and is capable of firing a range of missiles, rockets and bombs.
He said that it was a “unique” in the fact that it led to the drowning of a US aircraft.
The US will continue to fly and operate over the Black Sea, according to Mr Kirby, who said that they do not need to check with the Russians when they do, as it is over international waters.
Unintended escalation in airspace close to Ukraine
The downing of a US drone after an “unsafe and unprofessional” intercept by Russian jets over the Black Sea underlines the risk of unintended escalation in the increasingly crowded airspace close to Ukraine.
Key will be how the United States chooses to respond to what seems to have been an accidental rather than deliberate crash.
Yet the US military said the Russian Su-27 fighter planes dumped fuel on the MQ-9 Reaper drone “several times” and flew in front of it “in a reckless, environmentally-unsound and unprofessional manner”.
One of the jets then collided with the drone’s propeller, forcing the unmanned aircraft to crash into the sea.
Last year, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace revealed that a missile was released from a Russian aircraft near an unarmed RAF plane on a routine patrol over the Black Sea.
He described the incident on 29 September as a “potentially dangerous engagement” but said it was not deemed a “deliberate escalation”.
There has been no immediate reaction from Moscow, which has repeatedly voiced concern about US intelligence flights close to the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Sir Keir Starmer is under mounting pressure to raise Israel’s bombardment of Gaza with Donald Trump during his UK state visit, after a UN Commission said a genocide was taking place.
Sir Ed, who is boycotting the state dinner being held for Mr Trump, said Sir Keir must “press” the president now.
He said: “What is happening in Gaza is a genocide. And the president of the United States, who wants a Nobel Peace Prize, is doing nothing to stop it.”
Image: Displaced Palestinians flee northern Gaza. Pic: AP
Israel‘s foreign ministry said it “categorically rejects this distorted and false report” and called for the commission to be abolished.
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3:05
Is Israel committing genocide?
‘We cannot be bystanders’
Reports suggest the situation will be a talking point between Sir Keir and Mr Trump during his visit.
It comes before the UK is due to recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly later this month, along with allies including Canada and France.
In a late night statement, Canada’s foreign ministry described the Gaza City offensive as “horrific”.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed added: “We have long said that Hamas is genocidal and condemned them for their actions.
“Now, I think we have to say that what the Netanyahu government is doing amounts to genocide.”
Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan, a former shadow minister, also called on her party leader to make discussing the situation in Gaza with Mr Trump a “top priority”.
Speaking to Sky News’ Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge, she said: “We say ‘never again’ when we look at Bosnia and Rwanda, but here we are again, and it’s been livestreamed, and we’ve all seen it.
“We cannot be bystanders to a genocide.”
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8:51
‘We cannot be bystanders’
UN report pulls no punches
The accusation of genocide is made by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
It alleges Israel has been “killing Palestinians or forcing them to live in inhumane conditions that led to death; causing serious bodily or mental harm, including through torture, displacement and sexual crime; deliberately imposing inhumane conditions, and fourthly, imposing measures intending to prevent births”.
Earlier this month, the International Association of Genocide Scholars also passed a resolution stating that Israel’s conduct passed the threshold of committing genocide.
However, a report from the British government said it had “not concluded” that Israel intended to “destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.
Nearly 65,000 people are now believed to have died, according to figures collated by Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
As the Israeli army advances on Gaza City, thousands of families remain in the city’s crowded tent camps.
Sky News analysis of satellite imagery taken on Monday 15 September shows tent camps stretching across the western half of the city.
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A close-up view shows one camp spilling out on to the city’s beaches.
Image: Tents on the Gaza City beachfront on 15 September 2025. Pic: Planet Labs PBC
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) launched its ground assault overnight on Tuesday 16 September, in what the military said was a “new phase” in its offensive.
“Gaza is burning,” defence minister Israel Katz posted on X as the operation began. “IDF soldiers are fighting bravely to create the conditions for the release of the hostages and the defeat of Hamas.”
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper described the offensive as “utterly reckless and appalling”, adding that it “will only bring more bloodshed, kill more innocent civilians & endanger the remaining hostages”.
Footage verified by Sky News shows Israeli tanks entering the Gaza Strip from the north overnight on Tuesday.
Israeli soldiers later filmed themselves in an area just north of Gaza City.
Satellite imagery taken a day earlier shows that while some tent camps in the area have been abandoned in the past few days, many others have not.
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The IDF advance comes after an intense week of airstrikes targeting buildings in Gaza City. Sky News has verified dozens of videos showing strikes on buildings across the city.
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Several of these strikes destroyed entire tower blocks, such as this strike on Al Ghafari Tower.
At least 50 people were killed across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, health officials said, most of them in Gaza City.
The IDF said it estimated 40% of people in Gaza City had fled south, while Hamas said that only 190,000 out of 1.3 million residents had left (15%).
An evacuation order for the entire city was first issued on 9 September, with a map on 13 September instructing Palestinians to flee to what Israel has designated a “humanitarian area” along a stretch of sandy coastline known as Al Mawasi.
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Satellite imagery from Sunday 14 September shows that the area is already crowded with tents.
Image: Tents in the IDF-designated Al Mawasi humanitarian zone on 14 September 2025. Pic: Planet Labs PBC
Last week, the UN’s Gaza humanitarian country team said that “neither the size nor scale of services provided is fit to support those already there, let alone new arrivals”.
Those fleeing south face a journey of at least 15km (9.3 miles), much of it through Israeli-designated combat zones. Local health officials said at least one vehicle travelling south from Gaza City had been hit by an Israeli strike.
Among those staying put on Tuesday was Um Mohammad, who lives in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City.
“It is like escaping from death towards death, so we are not leaving,” she said.
The IDF says the next stage of the operation will involve both air and ground forces, and that the number of soldiers involved will increase over the coming days.
Additional reporting by Sam Doak, OSINT producer.
The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, according to a commission established by the United Nations.
The report claims “it is clear that there is an intent to destroy the Palestinians in Gaza” and says Israel’s actions meet the criteria set down for defining a genocide.
It is the first time that such an explosive allegation has been made publicly by a UN body, and is likely to be greeted with fury by the Israeli government.
Israel‘s Foreign Ministry said it “categorically rejects this distorted and false report” and called for the commission to be abolished.
“Three individuals serving as Hamas proxies, notorious for their openly antisemitic positions – and whose horrific statements about Jews have been condemned worldwide – released today another fake ‘report’ about Gaza,” it said in a statement.
“The report relies entirely on Hamas falsehoods, laundered and repeated by others. These fabrications have already been thoroughly debunked.”
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The accusation of genocide is made by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Image: Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion. Pic: Reuters
The commission, which has been studying the conduct of Israel since the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, has concluded that Israel has committed four of the five acts laid out in the Genocide Convention.
It alleges Israel has been killing Palestinians or forcing them to live in inhumane conditions that led to death; causing serious bodily or mental harm, including through torture, displacement and sexual crime; deliberately imposing inhumane conditions, and fourthly, imposing measures intending to prevent births.
This final claim is linked to an attack on the Al-Basma IVF clinic, which the commission claims destroyed around 4,000 embryos and a further 1,000 sperm samples.
The report claims Israel has “flagrantly” ignored “numerous warnings” over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and has set out to “destroy the healthcare system in Gaza”.
It also alleges that Israeli military personnel have carried out sexual and gender-based violence, including “rape and sexualised torture”, as part of “a pattern of collective punishment”, and accuses Israeli forces of deliberately targeting some children “with the intention to kill them”.
Image: Benjamin Netanyahu at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Pic: AP
Although other UN bodies and personnel have previously linked Israel’s actions with allegations of genocide, this is the first time that any UN body has claimed to have made a definitive judgment.
“The responsibility for these atrocity crimes lies with the Israeli authorities at the highest echelons,” said Navi Pillay, the chair of the commission.
Within the report, it concludes that “Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, have incited the commission of genocide”.
Nearly 65,000 people are now believed to have died, according to figures collated by Gaza’s health ministry. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.
The commission claims that a majority of these are women, children and elderly people.
The commission says it is now looking at further evidence against other individuals accused of inciting genocide.
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Last year, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against both Mr Netanyahu and Mr Gallant for allegedly committing the war crime of using starvation as a method of warfare and also for war crimes during the Gaza conflict.
Mr Netanyahu described the warrants as “antisemitic”, while a sense of outrage echoed across much of the political spectrum in Israel.
Then US President Joe Biden called the warrants “outrageous”; his successor, Donald Trump, issued an executive order to introduce sanctions against personnel from the ICC, while inviting Netanyahu to the White House.
It is hard to believe that either Israel or the US will be any more accepting of this report. Israel has long claimed that the UN is biased against it and is more liable to criticise Israel than any other nation.
Image: Marco Rubio speaks to media as he leaves Tel Aviv for Qatar. Pic: Reuters
The US, which offered a rare, if mild, rebuke to Mr Netanyahu after he launched an attack on Hamas officials in Qatar last week, has since sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Jerusalem as a sign of solidarity.
The commission has asked for nations to stop supplying Israel with weapons and says states have a “legal obligation” to do everything within their power “to stop the genocide in Gaza”.
It also calls on Israel to immediately allow “unhindered” access for internationally recognised aid agencies, including the UN.
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1:55
Does the UK think there’s a genocide in Gaza?
It wants the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), set up earlier this year by Israel with American help, in order to distribute aid, to be shut down.
Hundreds of people have been killed around GHF sites, while a separate UN-backed body has said that parts of Gaza have been designated as suffering from famine.
Israel denies this – a senior military leader told me that “it is a pure, total lie – there is enough food for everyone”. It claims that the UN relied on faulty data and Hamas propaganda.
This latest UN report is likely to be met with similar claims.
Earlier this month, the International Association of Genocide Scholars passed a resolution stating that Israel’s conduct passed the threshold of committing genocide.
However, a report from the British government said it had “not concluded” that Israel intended to “destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.