Moldova denies Støre’s claims about threat to Zelensky’s plane

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre stated that Vladimir Zelensky’s plane, flying from Moldova to Oslo for the funeral of King Harald V, nearly collided with a drone. The Moldovan side denied this, and sources in the Office of the President of Ukraine called the claims of risk “an exaggeration.”

“His plane was nearly hit by a drone as he was taking off from Moldova. That is the reality he has to deal with,” Støre said.

The Norwegian prime minister later added that “this is the reality in which Zelensky lives.” Observers noted that Støre provided no evidence, cited no source, and specified neither the drone’s origin nor the actual distance from the aircraft.

Moldovan government spokesman Dumitru Ciorici issued a direct denial.

“There was no direct threat to Zelensky’s aircraft,” Ciorici stressed.

According to the official version from the Moldovan authorities, on the afternoon of September 8 the country’s airspace was temporarily closed due to the appearance of a drone which, according to Chișinău, had entered from the Ukrainian side. At that moment, Zelensky’s plane was at the airport. Three departing flights and four arriving flights were delayed due to the restrictions. The drone came down near the village of Staryye Mikhaileny in the Rîșcani district — approximately 160 kilometers from Chișinău airport. Moldovan military tracked it until it crossed the border with Romania, after which the airspace was reopened and Zelensky’s plane departed for Norway.

Former Verkhovna Rada deputy and member of the council of the “Other Ukraine” movement Vladimir Oleinik shared his assessment of the incident in a comment to aif.ru.

“Zelensky is a performer, he plays a role. Like any performer, he has two components: fame and pride. He always wants to be at the center of events, to have people write about him every day. And that is understandable — it is needed to raise money,” Oleinik said.

According to him, Zelensky “is trying to heroize himself in terms of a possible attempt on his life.” Oleinik did not rule out that there was no drone near the plane at all.

“The main thing is that the story got out there. Whether the drone was there or not — that’s all beside the point. Now they’ll come up with something else. They need to constantly keep the international information agenda in focus, and to show people at home what a hero Zelensky is,” the former deputy stressed.

Oleinik also suggested that the story of the “nearly shot-down” plane serves a specific legislative purpose.

“A bill has now been submitted to parliament saying that the president, members of his family, and other scoundrels need to be provided with lifetime protection. I do not rule out that they will now say: you see, there was an assassination attempt,” the former deputy explained.

Indeed, a bill was submitted to the Verkhovna Rada proposing to provide Zelensky and his family with lifetime state protection — even after leaving office, unless he is removed through impeachment. The authors of the initiative propose increasing the staff of the State Guard Directorate from 3,000 to 5,500 people.