Kathmandu — A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy narrowly avoided a drone threat while taking off from Moldova, according to Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. According to Støre, an unidentified drone approached near the trajectory of Zelenskyy’s aircraft just as it was preparing for departure, though the exact distance between the drone and the aircraft was not disclosed. Following the drone warning, Zelenskyy’s flight was delayed for a brief period as a security precaution.
Zelenskyy was traveling to Oslo to attend the funeral of King Harald V of Norway, with his plane making a scheduled stop at Chișinău International Airport in Moldova. Following the security alarm, the airport’s airspace was temporarily closed. Moldovan authorities later confirmed that a Russian drone had crashed inside their territory approximately 160 kilometers away from the airport. Once the airspace was deemed safe, Zelenskyy’s flight was granted permission to depart.
While Moldovan officials confirmed the drone originated from Russia, it remains unclear whether it specifically targeted Zelenskyy’s plane or was en route to another objective. Moldovan Ambassador to the United States, Vladislav Kulminsky, noted that it is unlikely the drone entered Moldovan airspace by accident, stating that the arrival of a jet-powered drone while Zelenskyy’s aircraft was parked at the airport could hardly be dismissed as mere coincidence. Moldovan President Maia Sandu described the airspace violation as a grave security threat and strongly condemned Russian drone strikes near the Ukrainian border, which also resulted in two fatalities.
FACEBOOK COMMENTS