Zelensky’s plane almost hit by drone yesterday, Norway PM says

The plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Oslo for the funeral of the king of Norway was nearly struck by a drone when taking off from Moldova yesterday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere tells public broadcaster NRK.

“His plane was almost hit by a drone as it was about to take off from Moldova. That is the reality he is facing,” says Stoere, who does not say what his source was for the information or how close the drone came.

Officials in Moldova make no comment on Stoere’s statement regarding Zelensky’s plane.

Arrivals and departures at Chisinau airport were suspended for a time yesterday in connection with two Russian drones that entered Moldovan airspace. Several flights bound for the capital landed at airports outside Moldova or were forced into holding patterns, according to data from Flightradar24.

One drone landed in a field, triggering a fire, while the second carried on into Romanian airspace.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu denounced the intrusions as a “serious threat to people’s lives” and also condemned an attack on a border crossing with Ukraine that killed two people.

Zelensky attended the funeral of King Harald V of Norway today, marching behind his coffin along with other heads of state in central Oslo. He left Norway soon after the funeral was over.