from berlin. tonight, a midair collision between a russian warplane and a u.s. surveillance drone. the drone similar to the one you see right here. washington saying a russian fighter jet struck the joan, forcing it down into international waters in the black sea. also coming up, vladimir putin saying he is fighting for the existence of the russian state.

the russian president today on a choreographed trip to a siberians weapons plant insisted the west is to blame for the war in ukraine. also. the death toll in wally in nearly 200 now from cyclone freddie. recovery efforts hampered by torrential rain and high winds. ♪ i'm brent goff. to our viewers watching on pbs in the united states and to all of you around the world, welcome. we start tonight with news that a russian warplane has collided with a u.s. surveillance drone over the black sea. washington says the incident was caused by what it is describing

as a reckless act by two russian fighter jets. u.s. officials say one of the jets struck the propeller of the unmanned reaper drone, one of the types you see right here, causing it to crash into international waters. it was not immediately clear where over the black sea the incident occurred over what mission the drone was conducting. a pentagon spokesman offered the u.s. defense department's take on what happened today earlier today. >> we are continuing to assess exactly what happened. but i think based on the actions of the russian pilots, it is cleared was unsafe, unprofessional, and i think the actions speak for themselves. what we saw were fighter aircraft dumping fuel in front of this uav, and then getting so close to the aircraft that it actually damaged the propeller.

we assessed that it likely caused damage to the russian aircraft as well. we know that the aircraft, the russian aircraft did land. i'm not going to go into where they landed. but again, just demonstrative of very unprofessional, unsafe airman ship on the part of these pilots. brent: my colleague is in washington covering this story for us. from everything we heard from the pentagon spokesman, this was not an accident. so what was it? do we know? >> what was behind it is what all sides are trying to assess. we heard in washington from the white house today, we heard from the state department, and from the pentagon. in the message is that at the very least this was reckless and dangerous. asked what intention the americans suggest behind us, the

national security spokesman in the press corps earlier today said, well, if the message was that the u.s. should not be conducting these kinds of missions in international airspace in the interest of its own security, that will simply not happen. the u.s. will continue to do this. we also heard it was not uncommon to have such kind of intercepts, particularly after the u.s. stepped up the intensity of these reconnaissance missions with drones since the russian attack on ukraine. so it is all interconnected. but this does stick out as a very dangerous encounter indeed. brent: this happened over waters in the black sea, very close to an active war zone, which is eastern ukraine. it would seem that this would be washington and moscow communicating directly to avoid any accidental escalation.

do we know what they are doing? michaela: we know both sides are talking now. we do not know what happened during this. the u.s. side say that these two russian jets where near the russian drone for 30 to 40 minutes before they started, well, more than intercepting it, in the end touching one of the propellers which led to the american 70 down their own drone because they could not steer it anymore. this was not manned, luckily, but it was steered by the u.s. military. the russian fighter jets were clearly representing russia, so it was direct military contact between the u.s. and nato's most important country, the united states. that is why all these alarm bells are ringing. the clearest summary we got was from the u.s. european command who described this as an

aggressive action by the russian side that was dangerous because it could lead to miscalculation and unintended escalation. that is exactly what the americans are also communicating now. they do not want unintended escalation, and that is why they summoned the russian ambassador here and sent the u.s. ambassador in russia to protest while high-level talks are going on around military circles to find out exactly what happened, and amongst diplomats on both sides to understand what the exact intentions were. brent: we want to emphasize again that geography is important here, because the black sea, it is not that far from an active war zone in eastern ukraine. plus this also has to do with two nuclear powers, russia and the united states. i mean, the potential for something escalating out of control is real here, isn't it? michaela: it is absolutely huge.

that potential is huge. the russian side is denying that there was any intention behind this, that this even took place the way the americans have described it. and that is where we are at this moment in time. what we are clearly seeing from the u.s. side is no intention to escalate this any further. brent: dw's michaela kufner with the latest from washington. thank you. we want to bring in our correspondent jennifer paul can now covering the kremlin for us. dw is banned from reporting in russia. has there been much communication to the public coming from the kremlin about what happened earlier? jennifer: there has been a statement by the russian ministry of defense today. of course its version of events

differs significantly from the u.s. version. statement makes abundantly clear that the u.s. drone was in russian controlled airspace and was also heading towards the russian border, which is very critical, especially because of the closest to an active war zone. the drone, according to moscow, could not be attentive five because the transponder which transmits data was switched off. so according to moscow again, it was a serious breach of international norms. and while because there was no other way to identify the object, russian fighter jets had to become airborne and align up with the drone. then, the most important part, as a result of sharp maneuvering, as moscow because it, around 9:30 p.m. moscow time the drone allegedly went into an uncontrollable flight, lost significant altitude, and finally crashed into the water.

after the collision the russian fighter jets safely returned home, but the russian state emphasizes the russian fighter jets did not use any of their onboard weapons, nor did they come into direct contact with the drone. brent: i want to pick up on that point. because the pentagon is saying at least one of these russian fighter jets dropped fuel onto the drone several times. is that being corroborated by what you are hearing from the kremlin? jennifer: not at all. as russia states, it was no contact. it was simply an uncontrolled flight maneuver and the drone literally just fell out of the sky by itself. brent: communication between the white house and the kremlin, between washington and moscow, is moscow being open about that communication that is taking place? because this is a situation that could easily escalate, accidentally or intentionally. jennifer: yeah, well, the

relationship between russia and the u.s. is at a very, very low point. as russia states, one single u.s. drone, even if it is in russian controlled airspace and close to a war zone, it will certainly raise eyebrows and moscow. but it's questionable if it is enough to escalate the tensions between the countries. russia stated that they will try every possible diplomatic way to talk things over and find a solution. and escalation would really be the absolute last resort also for russia. brent: dw's jennifer pahlke with the russian side account of events, very important to get in this story. thank you. tomas is a military expert and journalist. i asked him whether this is the time white house and the kremlin

should be in direct contact. >> not necessarily. first and foremost, it should be a de-conflicting contact on the military. as for as we know there is a direct line between americans in germany and the front-line of russia. they should be the first line of contact. meanwhile, as we just heard, it's escalated to the diplomatic level. so the u.s. state department is in contact with his russian counterpart. so it seems there is contact at the moment, and this means de-confliction is going on. brent: according to the americans, this type of incident that occurred today is not uncommon, albeit it is still very reckless, what we saw. talk to me about the danger level of this type of incident. thomas: well, we have seen in

the past that russian fighter aircraft had approached a u.s. manned aircraft and with the u.s. calls an unsafe and unprofessional manner. quite obviously russian pilots try to coerce their u.s. counterparts, tried to move them off course. we had similar incidents with british reconnaissance planes earlier also over the black sea, which led to interruption of british wreckage flights for a certain time. but this is the first time that this approach has led to a midair collision, and that is a new quality, and the escalatory quality of this incident. brent: and this happened over international waters in the black sea. i am wondering what legitimate reason could a russian fighter jet have to engage with a u.s.

drone over international waters? is there a reason? thomas: none at all. the u.s. as well as nato, and also nato countries, are claiming to have the right to be there. they do. just as on the other hand, russian airplanes are routinely intercepted over the baltic international airspace by nato aircraft. which means nato aircraft is trying to identify and contact those aircraft. this, however, means that the russians seem to have an interest in getting those nato aircraft pilots or unmanned off course, because they are flying in a pattern that allows them to pick up signals, for instance, from a russian controlled territory, and getting reconnaissance and what you would call a spy aircraft. brent: this drone is called the

mq9 reaper, it's a surveillance drone. i assume the russians would possibly say that it could be connected directly to the war in eastern ukraine. i mean, is that the thinking that one could assume at this moment? thomas: well, you could assume, but even if you say this drone is related to the war in ukraine, it still has every right to fly in this international airspace. luckily, the u.s. and russia are not at war. so, from an international legal standpoint, for a russian fighter pilot, this might be an unfriendly aircraft but it is not an enemy aircraft. brent: military expert thomas wiegold, we appreciate your time and your valuable analysis

tonight of this breaking news story. russian president vladimir putin has repeated his claim since the beginning of the invasion that russia is fighting for its own survival in ukraine, insisting that the west provoked moscow into the conflict. he made the remarks again today during a rare public appearance outside the kremlin. this one took place at a military aircraft factory in siberia, where the kremlin is ramping up production. >> vladimir putin is shown around the plant which makes military helicopters, including those used by the russian army in ukraine. as they carefully carry graph -- putin stops by a group of workers. but the russian president is here not to answer the questions. he wants to send a couple of messages to the people at home. one of them is about why russia is continuing its war of aggression in ukraine. >> for us, it's a fight for the existence of the russian state

itself, because our adversaries, as i used to call them partners, they have one task, and we became convinced of this in previous decades. to rock the boat, shatter russia into pieces. for us this is not a geopolitical task, but the task of the survival of russian statehood. reporter: it's the latest explanation that putin and russian state tv have been using to justify the stalled war. the conflict has made russia the most sanctioned country in the world, but putin as well as many western observers say the russian economy is faring much better than expected. >> what did our adversaries hope for? that we would collapse in two to three weeks or a month. that is with the hope was. that business would come to a halt as our partners would refuse to work with us in the economic area. that the financial system would collapse. that's what the hope was.

that didn't happen. it turned out that the fundamental pillars of stability of russia are far more robust than they had thought them to be. reporter: the economy may have survived, but it's been increasingly put on a war footing. as the president was in siberia, his defense minister toured a missile factory near moscow, urging workers to double production. economists warn that sanctions will eventually lead to falling living standards for the russian people, but so far it appears that is a price putin is willing to pay to continue his work. brent: my next guest is angela stent, a senior fellow at the brookings institution who has written extensively about russia's relations with the u.s. and europe. her latest book is putin's world , russia against the west and

the rest. it is good to see you again. i want to start by getting your take on the images we saw today of vladimir putin almost bathing in the carefully choreographed, albeit, but bathing in the crowd of people. that is not something we have seen in a very long time. what is the message there? angela: i think the message there is everyone thought he was just sitting in a bunker and did not want to see people. the message is i am in good health, i am in control, i am your leader, and you people want to see me. so it is sort of i am back in the saddle again after covid and all the other things. definitely trying to rally the population. brent: i am wondering, is he sending that message with these images because he wants to, or is it more because he has to? angela: well, i think that there has been much speculation about his health, about his state of mind, because he has been absent so much.

i think he must feel that there is some pressure on him, again, to show the public that he is in charge, that he is controlin -- he is in control. he gave a state of the union-like message saying we are on the battlefield and we are winning. he wants to give a more upbeat message to this population. brent: do we know, are russians buying in to this messaging? i mean, how secure is the image of vladimir putin in the russian public sphere? angela: i think putin has used this year of the war, paradoxically, to consolidate his power. you would think that a leader, when the army has done so badly, with over 200,000 people dead or severely wounded, that they might be booted out of office. but not putin. he strengthened his hold on the country. if we can believe the public opinion polls a come out, and you have to be a little skeptical, the majority of the

population that has remained in russia -- do not forget, a million have left -- a majority who remain either support the war or are indifferent to it. so so far he has exceeded in convincing them, apparently, that the west is trying to break up russia and this is a fight for their existence. brent: i want to get your opinion on what happened today with this drone and these russian fighter jets. the account that we are getting from russia, from the kremlin, is different from what we are getting from washington. is this a situation that can work to vladimir putin's advantage? angela: i would be skeptical about that. the russians have been harassing us -- your previous guests said -- have been harassing u.s. and nato aircraft, they have been doing dangerous maneuvers, and this time they actually forced the drone down. i am sure the russians will try to use this to say this is something invented by the west and that they were not doing

anything that was inappropriate. but i doubt that this will work to russia's interest. brent: what about the notion of vladimir putin looking at all of this with a long-term perspective and just waiting it out, waiting for western unity with ukraine to fall apart? i mean, does he have that leverage still going for him at this point, despite the dismal performance by his military? angela: yes, he's certainly still waiting out the west. he is looking at the united states. you know, his people are listening to the debates in the congress. the republican party candidates are now coming out saying, like governor ron desantis, saying this is a local dispute that has nothing to do with u.s. interests. in europe you have had some demonstrations in different countries against support for ukraine because of the economic impact. so he is playing a long game.

his previous experience has informed him that the west does not hold together forever, that democracies get distracted. they have elections and they have to turn to other things. that seems to be what he is doing now. brent: the images we saw today from this factory, it looks like an economy that is working. it does not look like an economy that has been hit by major economic sanctions. i mean, is he right when he says you have tried to hit us, but it has not heard us? angela: -- not hurt us? angela: the russian economy has proven much more resilient than people in the west thought. the sanctions have had an impact, but they have not affected the life of ordinary russians, at least in the cities. supermarkets are full of goods, although they are not western goods. i think he is right in saying that the western sanctions have not crippled the russian economy and russia has been quite resilient. brent: angela stent, as always

it is good to get your insights and your takes on what is happening, particularly in russia. thank you. let's take a look now at some of the other stories that are making headlines around the world. a new report on the state of germany's military says it has, quote, too little of everything. the situation has become even worse in the past year despite a 100 million euro fund announced by the german government last year to upgrade the armed forces. clothing, weapons, and soldiers are all in short supply. sweden's prime minister says his country will join nato, but most likely not at the same time as finland. the nordic neighbors, you may recall, applied for memory chip together, but objections from turkiye are delaying sweden's membership bid. all 30 existing members of nato have to approve new members. the malawi government says at least 190 people have been

killed in the country after cyclone freddy slammed into southeastern africa with torrential rain and high winds. this is the second time in a month that freddie has made landfall in southern africa. it struck earlier in the month in madagascar. it is one of the strongest and longest lasting storms to ever be recorded in the southern hemisphere. reporter: on the outskirts of malawi's second largest city, a thriving community has been reduced to this. >> you see this? they were all houses. people are gone. people are gone. things are gone. everything is gone. from up there, going down, down, down. down. there are plenty of houses, plenty of houses, but they are

all gone. reporter: and that, so quickly. in minu -- in minutes, lives, ruined. >> plenty of bodies down here. reporter: in another township not far away, some homes were spared, but they have been inundated with flood water mud from landslides. rescuers and locals have unearthed dozens of bodies in the occasional survivor. this time, a young girl who had become stuck up to her neck in mud. >> we hear a voice of a child, crying. please save me, please save me. then after opening the door, then we have discovered we have mud along our house. all over there's mud.

reporter: landslide have left gaping cracks in the terrain, and the endless downpour has turned streets into rivers. days ago, these people were going about their daily lives. now, they wait at the local mortuary to identify their loved ones so they can bury them with dignity. the impact of the cyclone has piled more woes on a country already grappling with the deadliest color outbreak -- cholera outbreak in its history. forecasters say there is no let up insight for malawi. and climate change means tropical storms like this one are likely to become more and more frequent. brent: before we go, here is a reminder of the top story we are following. a u.s. surveillance drone, like this one scene here, has been struck by a russian warplane as

it was flying over the black sea. the unmanned vehicle's propeller was damaged, forcing the u.s. to bring it down in international waters. the kremlin says the drone was in russian controlled airspace moving towards the russian border. but it says it did not cause the drone to crash. you're watching "dw news." after a short break i'll be back to take you through "the day." stick around. we'll be right back. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

ñtñf?o■ñ■#■#■#■■

♪ >> it is 9:00 p.m. this is live from paris. these are headlines on france 24. angry reaction from washington following today's incident over the black sea in which a russian fighter jet struck a u.s. drone causing it to crash. with 500 days to go into the paris olympics president macron says there is still a lot -- there's still lots of work to be done and he is urging everyone involved to give it everything they've got. police in pakistani city couple with supporters of the former prime minister as officers arrived outside his house to arrest him.