Norwegian PM says drone nearly hit Zelensky's plane during takeoff from Moldova

Why it matters

The episode captures the physical risk to a head of state traveling from a country bordering Russia during an active war, and it underscores how Russian drones keep intruding into the airspace of neighboring states. It also reached the diplomatic agenda: Zelensky was in Oslo to press for additional air defense and the European Freyja anti-ballistic initiative. Støre's framing — that this is the reality the Ukrainian president lives in — turned what Norwegian officials say may have been a general airspace disruption into a political illustration of Ukraine's vulnerability.

What happened

On September 8, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was traveling from Moldova to Oslo to attend the funeral of Norwegian King Harald V. Speaking to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK on September 9, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said a drone almost struck Zelensky's plane during takeoff from Moldova. Støre did not specify how close the drone came, identify its source, or say whether the incident was intentional, and he offered no further details.

That same day, Moldova's Ministry of Defence reported a Shahed-type unmanned aerial vehicle entering Moldovan airspace at approximately 16:20 local time and partially closed the country's airspace. The drone later crossed into Romania; Romanian authorities scrambled fighter jets and temporarily suspended operations at Iași airport. The drone reportedly ended up falling in a field near the village of Mihaileni Vechi in Moldova, where it ignited dry grass without causing casualties.

In Oslo, Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that Zelensky discussed the incident at a meeting on the evening of September 8 and said his departure from Moldova had been delayed. A spokesperson for the Norwegian Prime Minister's Office, Bhanuja Rasiah, said it was not known how close the drones were to the aircraft. A source in the Ukrainian President's Office told AFP that an air-raid alert had been declared in Moldova and called claims that Zelensky had been in danger "exaggerated." The Ukrainian side had not publicly detailed the incident at the time of reporting.

How Ukrainian sources describe it

Ukrainian-language coverage led with Støre's account of the drone threat to Zelensky's plane, often placing "Støre said" in the headline. Several Ukrainian outlets connected the episode to Zelensky's meetings in Oslo on air defense and the Freyja anti-ballistic program, framing the incident inside Ukraine's broader push for additional air-defense systems. Ukrainian reporting also carried the President's Office line that danger to Zelensky had been "exaggerated" and noted that Kyiv had not provided its own detailed account of what happened in Moldovan airspace.

How international sources describe it

International wire reporting — including Azerbaijani/English, Qatari/Arabic and German outlets — emphasized Støre's quote and used the incident to illustrate the dangerous reality facing the Ukrainian president. International coverage also documented the broader airspace picture: the Shahed-type drone incursion into Moldovan and Romanian airspace, Moldova's partial airspace closure, Romania's fighter-jet scramble and the temporary halt to operations at Iași airport. Those reports stressed that Støre had not specified the source of his information or whether the incident was intentional, and that it remained unknown whether the drone posed a direct threat to the presidential plane.

Where reporting differs

Norwegian PM Støre described the episode as a drone nearly hitting Zelensky's plane and used it to illustrate the dangers the Ukrainian president faces; a source in the Ukrainian President's Office told AFP that an air-raid alert had been declared in Moldova when the Russian drone entered airspace and called claims that Zelensky was in danger "exaggerated." Norwegian officials also said it was unknown whether there was a direct threat to the presidential plane. Separately, Støre did not identify the source of his information or say whether the incident was intentional, and it is not established that the drone he referenced is the same Shahed-type UAV tracked by Moldova and Romania that day.

Background

Zelensky was traveling to Oslo for the funeral of King Harald V of Norway, who died on August 28 at the age of 89; the funeral was held on September 9. On September 8, Moldova's Ministry of Defence reported a Shahed-type drone violating Moldovan airspace at around 16:20 local time; the drone later crossed into Romania, where a fighter-jet scramble and a temporary halt to operations at Iași airport followed, before the drone reportedly fell in a field near the village of Mihaileni Vechi in Moldova, igniting dry grass with no reported casualties. Russian drones also struck border infrastructure on the Ukraine-Moldova border during the night of September 9. A prior episode in December 2025 involved four unknown military-type drones entering a no-fly zone in Ireland along a route previously taken by Zelensky's plane; the President's Office said that incident did not affect the visit.