A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Norway for the king’s state funeral was "almost hit" by a drone as it prepared to take off from Moldova on Tuesday, according to Russian drones were involved in the incident, with Zelenskyy’s departure to Oslo delayed after authorities closed the country’s airspace.
His aircraft was then cleared for takeoff once officials determined that one Russian drone had landed on Moldovan territory, a spokesperson told Reuters.
One landed in a field north of the capital, sparking a fire, while the other continued into Romanian airspace.
The incursions forced Chișinău International Airport to temporarily suspend arrivals and departures Tuesday, sending incoming flights into holding patterns or diverting them to neighboring countries, according to tracking data.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu denounced the incursions as a "serious threat to people’s lives" and separately condemned a Russian drone strike on a border crossing with Ukraine that killed two people.
Zelenskyy arrived in Oslo Tuesday evening, where he discussed military aid, including air defense support and civilian assistance with Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, according to Deutsche Welle.
The Institute for the Study of War also said a Russian Shahed drone flew through Moldovan and Romanian airspace for about an hour Tuesday before crashing in Moldova.