Moldova expels Russian diplomat after Russian Geran drone falls near family homes

Moldova declared a member of the Russian embassy in Moldova persona non grata after a Russian drone violated Moldova's air space and fell near homes in the country's center, President Maia Sandu said on Oct. 23.

The Russian Geran drone came down near family homes and an energy facility, Sandu said.

"Russia's war keeps putting Moldovan lives at risk," she added, calling it Russia's "latest dangerous act."

Police said a local resident reported a drone found in the village of Kistelnita in Telenesti District, about 100 meters from a residential building.

Earlier that day, a drone entered Moldovan air space at 1:59 p.m. local time during a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine, Moldova's defense ministry said. It crossed from the direction of Verkhnia Slobidka in Ukraine's Vinnytsia Oblast toward Frunzauca in Camenca District of Moldova's Russian-controlled region of Transnistria.

The drone disappeared from airspace monitoring near Pepeni in Singerei district at 2:10 p.m. and reappeared briefly before it was lost again at 2:12 p.m. near Meseni in Rezina district, the ministry said.

The incidents underscore the growing security risks posed to Moldova and the region by Russia's war against neighboring Ukraine.

Russian aerial incursions into Moldovan territory during attacks against Ukraine are becoming alarmingly routine, as a series of Russian drone incursions into Moldova's airspace was recorded during an overnight attack against Ukraine on Oct. 16.

Chisinau has repeatedly raised the alarm about these airspace violations, with Moldovan President Maia Sandu declaring that Russia's war against Ukraine is "dangerously reaching Moldova."

Moldova announced plans on Oct. 7 to build shelters at border crossings to protect border guards and people nearby in response to growing incursions.

The announcement came after the Moldovan Border Police reported on Oct. 5 that a projectile fired during a Russian attack against Ukraine ricocheted and struck a passenger bus and a border control booth at the Palanca-Maiaky-Udobne crossing, lightly injuring a border guard.