Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s aircraft was nearly hit by a drone as it took off from Moldova on Tuesday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said, describing the incident as evidence of the daily danger surrounding the wartime leader.
Stoere disclosed the account on Wednesday to public broadcaster NRK, without specifying his source or how close the drone came to the jet. “His plane was almost hit by a drone as it was about to take off from Moldova. That is the reality he is facing,” he said.
Zelenskyy was traveling to Oslo to attend the funeral of the king of Norway. The reported near-miss came at the start of a journey meant to carry the Ukrainian president to a solemn state occasion rather than a battlefield.
Officials in Moldova, which borders both Ukraine and Romania, have contended with repeated airspace intrusions and debris from drones and missiles since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. The country has frequently reported unidentified aircraft crossing its territory.
Neither Ukrainian nor Moldovan authorities immediately confirmed the details Stoere described, and the account could not be independently verified. It was also unclear whether the drone was tied to combat operations or represented a targeted threat against the presidential flight.
Zelenskyy travels under heavy security and has made numerous foreign trips since 2022, often shrouded in secrecy for safety reasons. Air movements involving the Ukrainian leader are typically closely guarded, with routes and timings withheld until after landing.
The episode adds to a pattern of drone activity spreading beyond Ukraine’s borders and into neighbouring skies, a concern that has drawn warnings across the region. Earlier this year, cross-border strikes prompted renewed threats from Moscow directed at parts of Europe, raising anxieties among states bordering the conflict.
For governments along the war’s edges, the reported incident points to how quickly aerial threats can reach civilian and diplomatic travel. Officials in the region are likely to press for tighter monitoring of airspace as leaders continue to move between capitals under conditions once thought secure.