OSLO, Norway- A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy narrowly avoided being hit by a drone while departing Moldova, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre has said.
The incident occurred on Tuesday as Zelenskyy travelled to Norway to attend the funeral of King Harald V.
Støre disclosed the near-miss on Wednesday but did not explain how close the drone came to the aircraft or identify the source of the information.
Authorities in Moldova had not immediately issued a detailed statement about the incident.
Zelenskyy’s plane continued its journey and landed safely in Oslo. No injuries or damage to the aircraft were reported.
The incident occurred on the same day that operations at Chișinău International Airport were temporarily suspended after two Russian drones entered Moldovan airspace.
One of the drones reportedly crashed and caused a fire in a field, while another continued towards Romanian airspace.
The incursions disrupted flights and forced some aircraft to make emergency landings or change their routes.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu condemned the violations of her country’s airspace as Russia continued launching drone attacks against neighbouring Ukraine.
Zelenskyy travelled to Oslo for the funeral and also held discussions with Norwegian and other European officials about strengthening Ukraine’s air defences.
The talks included the Freyja initiative, a proposed European programme intended to improve protection against missiles and other aerial threats.
Ukraine, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom are involved in the initiative.
Ukraine has asked its allies to supply more air-defence systems and interceptor missiles as Russia intensifies drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
