It was the first recorded physical confrontation between Russia and the US since last year’s invasion of Ukraine (Image: Rex/Getty)

Ham radio hobbyists appear to have received audio footage of the Russian military attempting to recover a US spy drone.

They monitored public airwaves after the MQ-9 Reaper drone was shot down last Tuesday after an encounter with two Russian warplanes, the New York Times reports.

Radio surveillance began about eight hours after the Black Sea collision — in the first recorded physical clash between Russia and the US since the invasion of Ukraine began.

The clips show conversations between several Russian ships and aircraft over a four-hour period in an attempt to recover the drone’s engine housing, nose, wing and fuel tank.

“Right now we’ve pulled up three pieces of the frame,” a unit codenamed Apelsin (Orange) was heard saying. “Now I’m going to the helicopter to find more.”

There have been a number of shows about ships’ dwindling fuel reserves and concerns about whether they will have enough to make it back to shore.

They then return to Sebastopol harbor and a crew member indicates that he has passed an area called Striletska Bay.

The clips show conversations between several Russian ships and planes over a four-hour period (Photo: US European Command/Zuma/Shutterstock)

mq-9 reaper

An MQ-9 Reaper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle shown on November 7, 2020 (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)

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The MQ-9 Reaper drone was found 60 km off the coast of Sevastopol

This provides insight into the units operating near the crash site and demonstrates Russia’s continued use of open, unencrypted radio channels for operational communications in Ukraine.

A source close to the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Kremlin troops found the downed drone at a depth of up to 300 meters in the Black Sea.

Although there is no evidence that any sensitive US information has been found, the wiretaps contain special military words that are difficult to understand.

Pentagon officials said all sensitive information had been wiped from the drone’s software.

“What’s left of that hovering will probably be flight control surfaces, things like that — probably nothing of real value to them in terms of redesign or anything,” National Security Council spokesman John F. Kirby told CNN.

“We’re not too worried about what they get their hands on,” he added.

Fizik research vessel pictured in Russia

Telegram channels indicate that the special ships Fizik (shown in a file photo) and Professor Vodyanitskiy both sailed to or near the likely location of the wreck (Photo: East2WestNews)

The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed on Friday that two fighter pilots have been honored with state awards for stopping the US drone from entering Russian airspace.

They claimed that there was no physical contact between the planes and that “maneuvering quickly” caused the drone to crash into an “unguided flight with loss of altitude”.

However, this contradicted US claims that a Russian fighter jet rammed the drone and damaged the propeller.

Moscow has not officially recognized a recovery operation, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the military will decide whether to attempt a recovery.

“That is the prerogative of the military. If they deem it necessary for our interests and security in the Black Sea, they will take care of it,” Pescov said at a press conference in Moscow last week.

The US has since resumed surveillance drone flights over the Black Sea region, officials said.

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