Turkish fighter planes shoot down 'out of control' drone near the country's Black Sea coast

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ISTANBUL (AP) — Turkey shot down an “out of control” aerial drone that approached its airspace from the Black Sea, the Defense Ministry said Monday.

The incident came after Ukrainian attacks on Russian “ shadow fleet ” tankers off the Turkish coast and warnings from Turkish politicians about the dangers of the war in Ukraine spreading.

F-16 fighter planes were scrambled after an object was detected, the ministry said in a statement. “To avoid any potential harm, it was shot down in a safe area outside of populated area,” it added. The statement gave no further details of the location or time of the incident.

Ukraine said its naval drones struck two tankers on Nov. 28. A third vessel was struck Dec. 2 as it headed toward the Turkish port of Sinop. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the earlier attacks as a threat to “navigational safety, life and the environment, especially in our own exclusive zone.”