2 Russian drones explode on Moldova’s soil as airspace violations are reported overnight

CHISINAU, Moldova (AP) — Two Russian drones exploded on Moldova’s soil and the Eastern European country reported violations of its airspace during Russia’s overnight attacks on neighboring Ukraine’s Danube port, Moldova’s president said Thursday.

The airspace incidents put “Moldovan lives at risk,” said Moldovan President Maia Sandu, adding that the drones were Iranian-made Shadid aircraft that Moscow uses in its war on Ukraine.

Moldovan border police said several drones violated Moldova’s airspace in the aftermath of the attack on Ukraine’s Reni port. No one was hurt when the two drones crashed into fields in the country’s south. An investigation was underway, national police said.

Daniel Voda, a spokesperson for the Moldovan government, told The Associated Press that both of the downed drones are of “Russian origin.”

“Russia’s war on Ukraine crossed into Moldova again,” Sandu said in a post on the social media platform X. “Russia respects no borders, attacks civilians, spreads terror. Its war on Ukraine is criminal.”

Moldova’s foreign ministry summoned the head of the Russian diplomatic mission in its capital, Chisinau, and condemned the “unacceptable violations” which “represent a serious threat to national security and the citizens” of Moldova. The ministry also presented the Russian diplomat with fragments of the drones “as concrete evidence” of the violations.

The ministry separately terminated a 1998 Moldova-Russia agreement on cultural centers and said that “the Russian Cultural Center is to cease its activity in our country.”

Similar airspace violations occurred overnight in neighboring NATO member Romania, where the Ministry of National Defense raised two F-16 fighter jets after its airspace was violated. It said there was a “possible impact area” but that no “material damage” was reported.

The ministry described the Russian attacks as “unjustified and in serious contradiction with the norms of international law.”

Since Russia launched its war on Ukraine, there has been a string of airspace violations and drone fragment findings in Romania and Moldova.