Zelenskyy's plane was detained in Moldova due to a threat of a Shahed attack
The Moldovan Ministry of Defense has identified the drone that caused the country to temporarily restrict air traffic and delay the departure of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plane. According to the Moldovan ministry, it was a Shahed-type drone.
The Moldovan Ministry of Defense reported that the drone was under constant surveillance by air surveillance systems. In addition to Moldovan airspace, it also entered Romanian airspace.
Due to the threat to civil aviation, Moldova temporarily closed its airspace over the central part of the country at 4:30 p.m. The restrictions were lifted after the presidential plane left Moldovan territory.
According to a Suspilne source in the Office of the President, Zelenskyy’s plane was not in the air at the same time as the Russian drone. Before taking off for Oslo, Ukrainian authorities monitored the drones’ movements and waited until they disappeared from radar.
One of the Shahed drones crossed the Ukrainian-Moldovan border in the Odesa region at 4:20 p.m. and entered Romanian airspace 18 minutes later. The drone flew approximately 70 kilometers into the country, after which it returned to Moldova around 5:04 p.m. At 5:15 p.m., it disappeared from radar, and it likely crashed.
The Ukrainian side also proposed deploying F-16 fighter jets to shoot down the drones, but this was not necessary. According to AirNavRadar, Zelenskyy’s plane left Moldovan airspace around 5:30 p.m.—by that time, the Russian drone being tracked was no longer in the air.
Source: Suspilne
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for the Russian dictator, stated that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plane was allegedly not under threat from a Russian drone during its departure from Chisinau.
Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre stated that the drone nearly struck the plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the first lady as it was departing from Moldova for Oslo.
In Moldova, the departure of the plane on which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was to travel to Norway was delayed due to a report of a drone. Authorities closed the country’s airspace for the duration of the alert.
