Moldovan authorities said on Saturday that Russian drones had entered the country's airspace, posing a threat to aviation, in the third such incident in nine days.
President Maia Sandu, who wants to bring Moldova into the European Union by 2030, has denounced Russia's war in Ukraine and accused Moscow of attempting to destabilise the ex-Soviet state, which lies between Ukraine and EU member Romania.
The latest incident coincided with a large Russian attack on Kyiv and other Ukrainian targets, killing three people and wounding nearly 30.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia had launched around 36 missiles and nearly 600 drones.
Moldova's interior ministry said it had identified two drones as Russian and that they had flown over Moldovan territory, prompting the closure of its airspace.
They later flew into Ukrainian territory, it added.
"In the course of this incident, which posed a serious threat to flight safety, Moldova's airspace was closed for an hour and 10 minutes from 22.43 to 23.53 (2043 to 2153 GMT) on the orders of the civil aviation authority," it said.
Sandu, writing on the X media platform, said: "On their way to kill civilians, Russian drones again violated Moldovan airspace, forcing its temporary closure. We condemn these attacks and stand with Ukraine."
Moldova, which complained of a similar intrusion on November 20 and again earlier this week, described the latest incident as intimidation in the context of the conflict in Ukraine and denounced "illegal and dangerous actions posing a threat to civil flights and peoples' lives".
Russia's Ambassador to Moldova, Oleg Ozerov, has been repeatedly summoned to its foreign ministry over the incidents.
Ozerov suggested the incidents were aimed at worsening already poor relations between Moscow and Chisinau.
Since Sandu was first elected in 2020, Moscow has accused Moldova of being behind unfriendly actions and whipping up anti-Russian sentiment.
Tehran had made plans to strike sites in Ukraine after Kyiv attacked an Iranian cargo ship in the Caspian Sea, a senior Iranian military adviser has s...
More than 800 Afghan families returned from Pakistan and Iran over two days as Afghan authorities continued receiving thousands of people arriving thr...
Japan is carrying out its biggest military buildup since World War II, with Tokyo citing China's expanding military capabilities and increasingly asse...
U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has a "last chance" to sign what he described as "a good document", claiming talks are continuing at Tehran's request with backing from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.
Tehran had made plans to strike sites in Ukraine after Kyiv attacked an Iranian cargo ship in the Caspian Sea, a senior Iranian military adviser has said. Iran refrained from taking action after Kyiv said the strike was a mistake, Mohsen Rezaei told the state IRIB TV channel.
Indonesian rescue teams are searching for 28 people still unaccounted for, three days after a passenger ferry caught fire off the coast of Madura island.
Two firefighting helicopters collided while battling a major wildfire in Greece on Sunday, killing two crew members as emergency services continued efforts to contain fires fuelled by extreme heat and dry conditions across Europe.
Nauru, the world’s third smallest country, has changed its name to Naoero, the Pacific island nation’s President said. The new name corresponds to the spelling and pronunciation in the national language.
Japan is carrying out its biggest military buildup since World War II, with Tokyo citing China's expanding military capabilities and increasingly assertive regional activities as the main reason for the shift in its defence strategy.
Iran and the U.S. are making conflicting statements about efforts to negotiate the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. President Donald Trump insists talks are under way, while Tehran maintains that negotiations remain on hold.
Romania blasted a rock outcrop to redirect cooling water from the drought-hit Danube River to its only operating nuclear reactor. The unprecedented measure highlights the growing impact of drought and the region's worsening energy crisis.
U.S. President Donald Trump criticised major oil companies, including Chevron and Exxon Mobil, on Monday for earning what he described as excessive profits as renewed tensions with Iran pushed global energy prices higher.
A cyclosporiasis outbreak, the largest ever recorded in the U.S., has caused its first known deaths, health officials in Michigan said on Monday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment