Russian Defense Minister Decorates Pilots for Downing US Drone

In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspects the Vostok group of Russian troops at an undisclosed location of the special military operation in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP, File)
In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspects the Vostok group of Russian troops at an undisclosed location of the special military operation in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP, File)
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Russian Defense Minister Decorates Pilots for Downing US Drone

In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspects the Vostok group of Russian troops at an undisclosed location of the special military operation in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP, File)
In this photo released by the Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Saturday, March 4, 2023, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu inspects the Vostok group of Russian troops at an undisclosed location of the special military operation in Ukraine. (Russian Defense Ministry Press Service photo via AP, File)

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has presented awards to the pilots of two Su-27 fighter planes that intercepted a US drone near the airspace around Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, his ministry said on Friday.

The drone crashed into the Black Sea on Tuesday after being intercepted by Russian jets, in the first known direct military encounter between Russia and the United States since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago.

Announcing the awards, the ministry repeated Russia's version of events - disputed by Washington - that the Russian planes did not make physical contact with the drone.

"As a result of sharp maneuvering around 9:30 a.m. (Moscow time), the MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicle went into uncontrolled flight with a loss of altitude and collided with the water surface," it said.

It said the drone had been flying with its transponders turned off and violating airspace restrictions that Russia had made public in connection with what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

The US military had said the Russian fighter planes approached its MQ-9 Reaper drone during a reconnaissance mission over the Black Sea in international airspace.

It said the fighters harassed the drone and sprayed fuel on it in an encounter lasting 30-40 minutes before one clipped the drone's propeller, causing it to crash into the sea.

The Pentagon on Thursday released a 40-second edited video showing a Russian fighter jet coming close to a US military drone in the air, dumping fuel near it, and a damaged propeller in the aftermath. The top US general said the incident demonstrated Moscow’s increasingly aggressive behavior.



Hundreds Rally in Paris for Iranian Women’s Rights

A protester holds a placard as she takes part in a march on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, arrested for allegedly violating the dress code for women at Place de la Bastille, in Paris on September 15, 2024. (AFP)
A protester holds a placard as she takes part in a march on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, arrested for allegedly violating the dress code for women at Place de la Bastille, in Paris on September 15, 2024. (AFP)
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Hundreds Rally in Paris for Iranian Women’s Rights

A protester holds a placard as she takes part in a march on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, arrested for allegedly violating the dress code for women at Place de la Bastille, in Paris on September 15, 2024. (AFP)
A protester holds a placard as she takes part in a march on the second anniversary of a protest movement sparked by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, 22, arrested for allegedly violating the dress code for women at Place de la Bastille, in Paris on September 15, 2024. (AFP)

Hundreds of people marched through Paris on Sunday in support of women's rights and the opposition in Iran, two years after the death of Mahsa Amini sparked protests against the country's religious authorities.

A 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, Amini died in custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women.

The march, organized by around 20 human rights associations, took place as 34 women began a hunger strike in a Tehran prison to mark the two-year anniversary of her death.

Chirinne Ardakani, a Franco-Iranian lawyer and member of the "Iran Justice" collective, said that the "sacrifices" made by Iranians opposed to the regime were "not in vain".

"Everything has changed in Iran," Ardakani told AFP.

"We've gone from an absolutely patriarchal culture, where there was no question of women being able to reveal themselves in the street, to massive support for these women," the lawyer and activist added.

The march in solidarity with the "Women, Life, Freedom" movement was attended by Benjamin Briere and Louis Arnaud, two Frenchmen who were arrested and arbitrarily detained in Iran.

Iran is accused of arresting Westerners without cause and using them as bargaining chips in state-to-state negotiations, with French diplomats describing these prisoners as "state hostages".

Briere was eventually released in May 2023, while Arnaud was let go the month after.

"Yes, I was in prison, but it is an immense honor to have been able to live among you, freedom fighters, who shared my suffering," Arnaud told the crowd, in his first public address since his release.

Three other French nationals are still being held in Iran.

After Amini died in custody on September 16, 2022, the women-led protests which erupted rattled Iran's leadership that autumn and winter.

But the demonstrations were then crushed by the authorities, with rights group Amnesty International saying security forces used assault rifles and shotguns in the crackdown.

Human rights groups say at least 551 people were killed. Thousands more were arrested, according to the United Nations.