CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — A flight that was scheduled to carry Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from Moldova to Norway earlier this week was delayed when authorities closed Moldova’s airspace because of a drone incursion, a government spokesperson said.
Moldovan police said a Russian drone crashed on Tuesday in a sunflower field on the outskirts of a village in the district of Riscani, which caused four fires to break out but no injuries.
Government
spokesperson Dumitru Ciorici said on Wednesday that Moldova had closed its airspace Tuesday afternoon to protect aircraft flying over the country at the time. The closure delayed three departures, including the flight carrying Zelenskyy.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told broadcaster NRK that Zelenskyy’s plane “was nearly hit by a drone as it took off from Moldova” on its way to Oslo for King Harald V’s funeral. Zelenskyy arrived in Oslo on Tuesday and met Støre to discuss potential support for Ukraine’s air defenses before attending the king’s funeral on Wednesday.
Moldovan authorities confirmed the drone came down and exploded 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Chisinau International Airport. The airspace restrictions were lifted and Zelenskyy’s plane took off later than scheduled.
The drone that entered Moldovan airspace on Tuesday crossed into neighboring Romania, a NATO member, where it was tracked through several northeastern counties.
The authorities said two F-18 aircraft of the Spanish Air and Space Forces were scrambled to track its trajectory before it reentered Moldovan airspace.
On Wednesday, Moldova’s police said explosives experts discovered fragments of the drone that featured a propulsion system and characteristics similar to a Geran-type drone, which Moscow has used extensively in its full-scale war in Ukraine.
“Investigations identified the point of impact, where an explosion occurred and a crater of considerable size was formed,” police said, adding that specialists are continuing investigations “to determine the type and mass of the explosive payload.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that there had been no threat to the plane carrying Zelenskyy, and instead accused Ukraine of staging “provocations” to draw its Western allies into the war. Peskov offered no evidence for his claim.
Ukraine neighbors both Romania and Moldova, and since Russia’s full invasion of Ukraine in 2022, both countries have reported dozens of drone incidents.
