Zelensky Says Russian Drones Chased His Plane Over Moldova: Moldovan Data Says 160 Kilometres

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says Russian drones entered Moldovan airspace twice at precisely the moments his plane was in Chisinau. Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Store goes a step further and says a drone "almost hit" the aircraft. The Moldovan authorities, the only ones who hold the data, do not claim that.

Zelensky said it in an interview with America's CBS News, linking both incidents to his presence in Moldova while leaving open the possibility that he personally was not the direct target. "My presidential plane was in Moldova and that is why they attacked Moldova, Moldova's airspace. Perhaps they did not want to attack me personally. When we were returning home, again through Chisinau, they did the same thing again", he said.

What actually happened on 8 September

The first incident took place on 8 September, while Zelensky was preparing to travel to Norway via Chisinau. The Moldovan authorities temporarily closed the airspace after a drone warning, which delayed the departure. According to Moldovan government data, two Russian drones entered the country's airspace that day. One came down in the north of the country and started a fire, the other continued towards Romania.

The key detail is the distance. The drone came down in the Riscani district, around 160 kilometres from Chisinau International Airport. Flight restrictions were lifted only once it was assessed that there was no immediate danger, and Zelensky's plane was cleared to take off later than scheduled. That is what the Moldovan government itself announced.

Now place that figure next to the Norwegian prime minister's statement. "His plane was almost hit by a drone when it was due to take off from Moldova. That is the reality he lives in", Store said. One hundred and sixty kilometres and "almost hit it" are not the same sentence. The Moldovan authorities did not report that a drone was in the immediate vicinity of the aircraft, and the exact distance at the moment of the incident is not known.

The second incident and what is missing

Zelensky says almost the same situation repeated on his return home via Chisinau. The Moldovan authorities did indeed report drones entering the country's airspace again a few days later. So the drones are a fact. What is not confirmed is the intent - no evidence has been published so far that the Russian drones had a specific mission to bring down the Ukrainian president's plane.

Russian military channels met Zelensky's claims with derision, and some individuals called his statements "narcotic hallucinations". That is their usual register and it is not an argument for anything. But derision from one side does not turn unproven intent on the other side into proven intent.

Why this concerns us

Moldova is not a NATO member and has airspace that other people's drones pass through like an open door - twice within the same weeks, with a fire at one end and Romania at the other. The Balkans know this position by heart: a country without an umbrella, on a route somebody else chose.

From a distance the story looks like this: the drone incursions are confirmed, the airspace closure is confirmed, the flight delay is confirmed. Everything else - that this specific plane was the target - is a claim by an interested party, amplified by an allied prime minister, with no documentation behind it. The difference between those two levels is exactly what every reader should keep in mind while reading each new report from this war.