Russian drone violates Moldovan and Romanian airspace, crashes in Moldova
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A suspected Russian Shahed-type drone violated Moldovan and Romanian airspace on Sept. 8, forcing airspace closures, emergency alerts, and the scrambling of NATO fighter jets.
The Moldovan military detected an "unmanned aerial vehicle" at 4:20 p.m. local time, the Moldovan Defense Ministry said in a statement, identifying it as a "Shahed-type" drone that entered the country's airspace from the "direction of… Ukraine."
The military monitored the drone until it left Moldovan airspace at 4:37 p.m., heading in the direction of Golaiesti in Romania.
Spanish F/A-18 fighter jets, deployed as part of a NATO air-policing mission, were scrambled from Mihail Kogalniceanu Air Base as the drone entered Romanian airspace.
Romanian authorities triggered emergency warnings to residents in multiple regions, warning them to "take shelter in basements or civil protection shelters," while Iasi International Airport suspended takeoffs and landings until the drone left the area.
Romanian radars lost contact with the intruding drone just after 17:00 local time. The drone ultimately crashed "in the area of Mihaileni Vechi, Republic of Moldova, approximately 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) east of the border with Romania, near Botosani County," according to the Romanian government.
Russian drones and missiles have routinely violated the airspace of both Romania and Moldova in recent months.
On Aug. 16, NATO fighter jets shot down a suspected Russian drone that violated Romanian airspace near the Moldovan border, Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruta confirmed, the fourth such instance of a suspected Russian drone incursion this year.
A day later on Aug. 17, a Russian S8000 Banderol cruise missile entered Moldovan airspace during a Russian attack on Odesa, before crashing in a cornfield approximately 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) outside of the village of Talmaz, in the Stefan Voda district of Moldova.
