Moldova reports Russian drones in its airspace as drone war intensifies

The Foreign Ministry of Moldova says two Russian ‘decoy drones’ crashed in Moldova on November 10. A statement from the Ministry said the incursion “endangered Moldovan lives and violated our airspace”.

“We firmly condemn these aggressive incursions and reiterate our condemnation of Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine,” the statement continued.

The Ministry said the two drones were found in two separate locations, far apart but each within 50 km of the border with Ukraine. Moldova also reported finding Russian drone fragments in its territory in April.

Moldova’s Pro-European President Maia Sandu was recently re-elected, worsening already strained relations with Moscow.

Latvia and Romania have also reported Russian drones in their airspace recently. Romania’s Defence Ministry published a draft law on October 28 which, if passed, would allow it to shoot down drones illegally breaching its national airspace. And in July, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland would take out drones over Ukrainian airspace before they strayed into Polish airspace, if NATO would support the action.

Meanwhile, multiple media reports indicate that Russia and Ukraine have carried out their largest drone attacks against each other to date this weekend, with Russia reporting that it had intercepted more than 80 drones, some close to Moscow which affected operations at the capital’s airports. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Air Force said Russia had launched 145 drones with most “shot down”.