The war that has been fought in Ukraine for years is now knocking on the door of a country that is not in NATO, not in the EU, and has nothing to hit back with. Zelensky announced that Russian forces attacked a border crossing on the frontier with Moldova using drones.

The details are thin, and that in itself says something. He did not specify which crossing was hit or how many aircraft took part. There is no confirmed information on whether border infrastructure, vehicles or anything else nearby was damaged. When a statement comes from the very top and the numbers are missing - it usually means they are still counting there too.

The strikes are getting closer

This does not fall out of a clear sky. Russian attacks in recent weeks have repeatedly hit transport and other infrastructure in the south of the Odesa region, including the Odesa-Reni axis - the key corridor toward Moldova. The Ukrainian State Border Service said that after an earlier strike, traffic on part of that stretch was restricted, making access to certain crossings toward Moldova more difficult.

That road was not chosen at random. It connects Odesa with the Danube area, with Moldova and onward with Romania - so with the EU. When a road is targeted systematically, it is not asphalt being targeted. It is the exit.

When a drone no longer stops at the border

The most uncomfortable part of the story is that incidents no longer stay on the Ukrainian side. Moldova's Foreign Ministry announced that on 17 August an unidentified aerial object violated Moldovan airspace and exploded near the village of Talmaza, by the Ukrainian border. The explosion caused a grass fire. There were no injuries.

Moldovan authorities did not immediately establish where the aircraft came from, but classified the incident as a serious violation of sovereignty and a threat to public safety. Chisinau has stepped up airspace protection measures in recent months, having reported drone incursions or debris found on its territory several times since the war began.

So: a grass fire, nobody hurt, and a country now has to build a system to protect its sky. That is the price paid by the neighbours of someone else's war - not in casualties, but in budget, in nerves, and in the fact that every unclear dot on the radar is no longer a bird.

Does this sound familiar? A small country, limited defence, a war fought right up to the fence, and decisions made in capitals where its name comes up as a point on a map. The Balkans do not have to imagine that position - they lived it.

The claim that a Russian drone struck a border crossing directly raises the weight of the whole situation, because then it is not a stray aircraft but a strike on infrastructure that directly links Ukraine with its neighbour. More detail on the crossing, the consequences and the current situation is expected once Ukrainian border and regional authorities speak. Until then, Chisinau will be watching a sky it does not control.