The defence ministry said that Turkey shot down a drone which was approaching its airspace above the Black Sea.

This incident follows Turkey's warning of escalation in the Black Sea last week after Russian attacks against Ukrainian ports damaged three?"Turkish owned cargo vessels."

The?ministry issued a statement saying that Turkish and NATO F-16 jets had been put on alert after the 'detection' of the drone.

The drone had been determined to be out of control, and was shot down by the ministry in its statement on Monday. However, it did not elaborate on its origin or type.

The?attacks against Ukrainian ports come days after Moscow threatened to "cut Ukraine?off?from the?sea" in response to Kyiv's attack that damaged three tankers of the'shadow fleet' heading to Russia for exporting its oil from the Black Sea. (Reporting and editing by Clarence Fernandez; Huseyin Haatsever)

(source: Reuters)