The Ukrainian presidential aircraft was forced to postpone its departure from Moldova after a Russian attack drone violated Moldovan and Romanian airspace. The long-range Shahed/Geran type drone entered Moldovan airspace from Ukraine and was later detected over Romania, triggering a maximum security alert.
The drone eventually crashed and exploded approximately 160 kilometers from Chișinău airport, but the threat necessitated the preventive closure of Moldovan airspace and the postponement of several flights, including that of the Ukrainian president en route to Oslo. The Norwegian Prime Minister described the incident as a direct risk to Zelensky's life, though Moldovan and Zelensky's team sources deemed interpretations of imminent danger as exaggerated.
This incident is part of a recent pattern of Russian drone airspace violations in Moldova and Romania, seen as tests of NATO defenses and demonstrations of the ability to project risk beyond Ukrainian borders. Analysts believe the episode increases pressure on Chișinău and Bucharest to accelerate integration into drone detection and interception systems.
