US military carries out ‘extraordinary’ Open Skies flight over Ukraine

The US military said on Thursday it carried out an “extraordinary” flight over Ukraine under the Open Skies Treaty. The move is intended to reaffirm the US commitment to the country after the Kerch Strait incident, Reuters reported. In a statement, the Pentagon described the standoff as “Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukrainian naval vessels in the Black Sea.” Russia earlier slammed the incident as a provocation. Twenty-four Ukrainian sailors have been detained in Russia until January 25, 2019. Three Ukrainian ships were also detained in the Black Sea.