Moldova says briefly shut airspace after fresh drone breach

Moldova, which borders Ukraine, closed its airspace for about an hour overnight after a new drone incursion, its defence ministry said Saturday.

The small country bordering war-torn Ukraine and NATO member Romania has repeatedly seen violations of its airspace since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The latest incident comes after Moldova earlier this week reported that a drone had crashed on its soil, with six drones in total crossing its airspace.

Moldova's airspace "was temporarily closed for approximately one hour and 10 minutes, between 22:43 and 23:53, as an emergency measure, after two unidentified drones illegally flew over the national territory, creating a direct threat to aviation safety", the defence ministry said in a press release on Saturday. Moldova is two hours ahead of GMT.

It added that the Gerbera-type drones had not been detected by Moldova's radars, but their incursion was "confirmed by the Ukrainian border authorities".

"No objects, debris or elements posing a danger to the population have been identified and both drones have permanently left national airspace, moving deep into Ukrainian territory," the interior ministry said.

However, two airplanes heading to Chisinau from Paris and Barcelona during the airspace closure were diverted to Romania, it said.

Another aircraft preparing for takeoff from Chisinau was temporarily grounded.

"Moldova strongly condemns these illegal and dangerous actions, which endangered the safety of civilian flights and human lives," said the defence ministry, branding the violations as "hostile acts of intimidation and destabilisation".

On Wednesday, Moldova summoned the Russian envoy over the recent drone crash while placing the actual drone outside its foreign ministry and handing him a protest note.