Russia denies drone threat to Zelenskyy's plane in Moldova
Dmitry Peskov (photo: Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plane allegedly faced no threat from a drone while departing from Chisinau, Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov said, according to TASS.
According to him, Ukraine allegedly continues to resort to various provocations, trying to "drag its Western handlers into the war."
"As for the ephemeral threat to the plane, it did not exist. The Ukrainians themselves acknowledged this," Peskov said.
Incident involving Zelenskyy's plane
The incident involving Zelenskyy's plane on its way to Norway was reported by the country's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre. He said that the Ukrainian president's plane "was nearly shot down by a drone while taking off from Moldova."
The Moldovan government confirmed that Zelenskyy's departure from their country to Norway on September 8 was delayed due to a Russian drone in the country's airspace.
Permission for takeoff was granted after it became known that the Russian drone had crashed and exploded near the village of Stari Mihaileni in the Riscani district. The crash site was located approximately 160 km from Chisinau International Airport.
In total, due to the air raid alert, three departing flights and four arriving flights were delayed at the airport.
In addition, Moldova's ambassador to the United States, Vladislav Kulminski, said that the Russian drone that violated Moldovan airspace may have been deliberately flying in the direction of the Ukrainian president's plane.
