U.S. releases video showing Russian fighter jet intercepting American drone over Black Sea

The U.S. military has released newly declassified video it says shows a Russian fighter jet harassing and colliding with an American drone over the Black Sea.

The footage, released Thursday morning by U.S. European Command and filmed from the drone's on-board camera, shows a Russian Su-27 jet conducting what the U.S. calls an "unsafe/unprofessional intercept of a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 in international airspace" earlier this week.

U.S. officials earlier told NBC News that Kremlin leadership had approved the aggressive actions of the Russian jets in an apparent effort to throw the drone off course or disable its surveillance capabilities. 

Russia has denied its planes came “into contact” with the drone and said the U.S. was to blame, warning Washington to cease "hostile" surveillance flights near its borders to help Ukraine. The incident is the first known direct confrontation between the two superpowers since Moscow invaded its neighbor last year, and comes at a time of mounting tensions over Western support for Kyiv.