Zelenskyy Says Russia Targeted Moldova Airspace Twice — SkimNews
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- Volodymyr Zelenskyy disclosed in a CBS interview broadcast on September 15, 2026, that Russian drones entered Moldovan airspace twice while his presidential jet was at Chisinau airport during transit to and from an overseas trip.
- On September 9, Moldovan authorities closed airspace over a drone alert, delaying Zelenskyy's departure to Norway; two Russian drones entered, with one landing in a field north of the capital and triggering a fire, and the second continuing into Romanian airspace.
- On September 14, two drones entered Moldovan airspace for roughly 10 minutes each within an hour before noon local time — the second incident Zelenskyy had not previously disclosed publicly.
- Zelenskyy told CBS he believed the strikes were prompted by his presidential jet's presence, but added Russia 'maybe didn't want to attack me personally,' leaving the targeting motive ambiguous.
- The exact timing of Zelenskyy's return transit through Chisinau from Canada was not clarified in the article.
Why it matters: Two confirmed Russian drone incursions into Moldovan airspace during the transit of Ukraine's president dragged a non-combatant neighbor directly into the conflict. One drone already crossed into Romanian — NATO — airspace on September 9, raising the spillover stakes beyond Ukraine's borders.
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