Russian drone over Moldova grounds plane carrying Zelenskyy

Kollen Post and Irina Vilcu, Bloomberg News on Sep 10, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s planned flight to Oslo was disrupted on Tuesday by a Russian drone as he was set to depart for the funeral of King Harald, according to Norwegian and Moldovan authorities.

It wasn’t immediately clear how close a call it was for the Ukrainian president. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told public broadcaster NRK the plane was almost hit when it was taking off.

The incursion only stalled takeoff before the drone that arrived via Ukraine exploded “some 160 km” (99 miles) from the airport an hour later, Dumitru Ciorici, a Moldovan government spokesman, said on Wednesday evening.

It was the second drone incident involving top Ukrainian officials this month, after a jet-powered drone hit the office of the head of the internal security service SBU in downtown Kyiv last week. Zelenskyy blamed Russia and vowed to deliver an “appropriate, tangible response” to the strike.

The Norwegian prime minister didn’t provide any further details. The office of the Ukrainian president did not return a request for confirmation, citing ongoing travel.

“Most likely this is not an accident,” Moldovan ambassador to the U.S., Vladislav Kulminski, told CNN. “We don’t believe in jet-propelled drones just flying into Moldova’s territory for surveillance purposes while the Ukrainian president’s airplane is on the ground at the airport.”

But it was still too early to say and the investigation was ongoing, he added.

Zelenskyy arrived in Canada on Thursday where he is set to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney to discuss support for Ukraine “in protecting the skies and preparing for winter,” he said on Telegram.

The drone incursion followed a Russian drone strike on a Ukraine-Moldova border crossing the previous night that Ukrainian authorities said killed two people.

—With assistance from Piotr Skolimowski.