Moldovan government spokesperson Dumitru Ciorici said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plane was not threatened by a drone while in Moldova, as the aircraft was at Chisinau Airport when the alert was issued and the country’s airspace had been closed.
Axar.az reports, citing local media, that Zelensky was traveling from Chisinau to Oslo to attend the funeral of Norwegian King Harald V. Earlier, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said that his aircraft had “barely avoided being hit” by a drone while taking off in Moldova on Tuesday.
According to Ciorici, Moldova’s airspace was indeed closed during the afternoon of September 8 due to a drone that entered from Ukraine. The Moldovan military tracked the drone until it crossed the border into Romania.
“This measure led to delays for three departing flights and four arriving flights. For the same reason, the aircraft carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also departed from Chisinau International Airport with a delay,” Ciorici said.
He stressed that “there was no direct threat to President Zelensky’s aircraft.”
It should be noted that Norway’s prime minister said yesterday that Zelensky’s plane had nearly been shot down while taking off from Moldova.