The drone that caused Zelenskyʼs plane to be detained in Moldova exploded 160 km from the airport

The drone that delayed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyʼs flight from Moldova to Norway crashed 160 kilometers from the airport.

The Associated Press writes about this.

Moldovan police said a Russian drone crashed into a sunflower field on the outskirts of a village in the Rîşcani district on September 8. The crash caused four fires, but no one was injured.

The next day, government spokesman Dumitru Corici said that Moldova had closed its airspace to protect aircraft over the country at the time due to the incident, delaying three flights, including the one carrying Zelensky.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told NRK that Zelenskyʼs plane nearly collided with a drone during takeoff from Moldova while en route to Oslo for the funeral of King Harald V. Zelensky arrived in Oslo on Tuesday and met with Støre to discuss possible support for Ukraineʼs air defenses, and on Wednesday attended the kingʼs funeral.

Moldovan authorities confirmed that the drone crashed and exploded 160 kilometers from Chisinau International Airport. Airspace restrictions were lifted and Zelenskyʼs plane departed late.

The drone, which entered Moldovan airspace on Tuesday, crossed the border into neighboring NATO member Romania, where it was tracked as it flew over several counties in the countryʼs northeast.

Two F-18 fighter jets from the Spanish Air and Space Forces were scrambled to track the droneʼs trajectory before it re-entered Moldovan airspace.

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