Last night, Ukrainian monitoring groups reported that the occupiers launched a «Shahed» drone from the territory of Moldova. It flew there for several kilometers, and later attacked the Khmelnytsky region of Ukraine. The drone was successfully downed. Ukrainian media reported that this drone flew over central regions of Moldova. However, that same night, the Ministry of Defense of Moldova rushed to refute the reports of the Ukrainian media:
«In connection with the alleged risk of a drone penetrating the airspace of the Republic of Moldova, we inform you that no drone launched by the Russian Federation this evening over Ukraine flew over the airspace of the Republic of Moldova,» said the department's statement.
In the morning, the spokesperson for the Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine, Natalia Humenyuk, reported that the Ukrainian media were not mistaken and the occupiers indeed attacked Ukraine from the territory of Moldova. She described the enemy's move as «provocative»:
«The route of one of the drones was provocatively directed along a trajectory crossing the Ukrainian-Moldovan section of the state border in the Odessa region. The drone flew over the territory of the neighboring state for several tens of kilometers and re-entered the airspace of Ukraine, where it was subsequently destroyed by the forces of Ukraine's air defense,» noted Humenyuk.
Later, the spokesperson for the Air Forces of Ukraine, Yuriy Ignat, once again confirmed that the Russian drone indeed entered Moldova, and reminded that this is not the first time such an incident has occurred:
«This has already happened, more than once. I don't see anything particularly sensational about it,» he said.
Ignat also emphasized that Russia might be carrying out a deliberate provocation in Moldova in order to achieve its political goals:
«I cannot say exactly whether the goal is to shorten the path for the drone or provocative actions. There are also certain political processes taking place in this region; the occupying state is trying to carry out certain provocative actions there as well. We will watch what happens next. The fact remains a fact, there was a flight,» he added.
The incident has started to be actively discussed in the public space of Moldova. In particular, the Mayor of Chisinau, Ion Ceban, called on the authorities not to remain silent:
«I received dozens of calls from citizens with questions about what these rumors are. You cannot run the country and remain silent when people do not feel safe. Maybe today they will make official statements to calm the people? People need security,» he noted.
