The Daily

 In  European news today:

source: Le Figaro

Author: Amaury Coutansais Pervinquiere

translation: GoogleTranslate/doxa-louise

War in Ukraine: an American spy plane may have flown over the Black Sea before the sinking of the Moskva

The Boeing P8 Poseidon is also an anti-submarine warfare aircraft that can be equipped with anti-ship missiles.

Its wreck lies at the bottom of the Black Sea, but its sinking still causes debate. The Moskva, flagship of the Russian fleet in the Black Sea, was most probably sunk by two Ukrainian 'Neptune' missiles, despite denials from the Kremlin, on 13 April. At the same time, an American spy plane reportedly flew over the area, according to the Times(UK) .

The British daily relies on open source data published by FlightRadar24. The Boeing P8 Poseidon patrol, and anti-submarine warplane, AE681B, had taken off from the American naval air base of Sigonella in Sicily. It was then detected at 1:32 p.m. Kiev time, above the Mediterranean, before reaching the Romanian coast, via the Balkans and Bulgaria.

A US Navy P8 Poseidon. Theron Kirkman / POOL / AFP

At 3:27 p.m., its position was recorded over Valea Nucarilor in Romania, nearly 20 km from the Ukrainian border and less than 100 miles from the Moskva. Its transponder is then deactivated, while the plane descends from a cruising altitude of 29,000 feet to 11,900. For two hours and 56 minutes, its location is unknown. It reappears at 6:23 p.m. above the town of Casimcea in Romania, about 37 miles from its last position and disappears again after 19 minutes.

The P8 was spotted 42 minutes later, at 7:24 p.m., in southern Romania before returning to Sigonella. At 8:42 p.m., a message posted on Facebook claimed that the Moskva had been hit. At 10:31 p.m., the Ukrainian governor of Odessa gave the first official confirmation.

The Moskva in Sevastopol in 2013. STRINGER / REUTERS

In early April, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin admitted that the United States was providing intelligence to the Ukrainian military. The P8 Poseidon is also armed with AGM-84 Harpoon and Mark 54 Torpedo anti-ship missiles. Its French equivalent is the ATL2, deployed with a carrier battle group from February to April 2022, during the Clémenceau 2022 mission.