Russian drones had reportedly targeted the plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy twice in recent weeks, with the Ukrainian leader telling CBS News that the incidents were part of Moscow’s efforts to intimidate him and other foreign leaders.
Get breaking news anytime, anywhere. Download the TOI app now!
In an exclusive interview with CBS News on Tuesday, Zelenskyy said his presidential jet was targeted while he was travelling through Moldova and again when he was returning to Ukraine a few days later.
“In Moldova, my presidential jet was there, and that's why they attacked Moldova,” Zelenskyy told CBS News. “When we went back home, again through Chisinau, they did the same.”
The second incident had not previously been reported. Zelenskyy said one or two drones entered Moldovan airspace during the return journey. Ukrainian officials had said at the time that members of the presidential delegation were safe, but it was unclear whether the incident was intentional.
The first incident had been publicly disclosed earlier by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store, who said Zelenskyy’s plane was “almost hit” by a drone while flying through Moldovan airspace on September 9, as the Ukrainian president travelled to Oslo. He added that the incident reflected the reality of the threats Zelenskyy faces.
Zelenskyy links drone attacks to foreign leaders
Zelenskyy also told CBS News that Russia was using drone attacks to intimidate foreign officials visiting Ukraine.
On Sunday, a Russian drone struck a passenger train carrying foreign dignitaries travelling in Ukraine, forcing passengers to evacuate near the Polish border. The delegation included senior European officials and former CIA Director David Petraeus.
Zelenskyy said he believed Russia may have known that Americans and Europeans were aboard the train.
“Maybe they didn't know that some Americans had been there or maybe, oppositely, they knew, because I don't trust them,” he told CBS News.
The incident came amid a wider increase in drone incursions into European airspace.
Unidentified drones, some of which have been traced to Russia, have increasingly entered the airspace of European countries bordering Ukraine and Russia, according to CBS News.
Nato fighter jets on Tuesday shot down a drone in Lithuanian airspace for the first time, the Associated Press reported, citing Lithuanian military officials.
Romania has also faced repeated drone incursions since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. In May, a Russian drone struck the roof of an apartment building in the Romanian city of Galați after entering the country's airspace during a Russian attack on targets near the Ukrainian border.
Two people suffered minor injuries and were treated for abrasions, while two Romanian F-16s were scrambled after the drone was detected, according to Romanian authorities.
Nato subsequently accused Russia of reckless behaviour and pledged to defend “every inch of Allied territory”. Romania also said its allies would provide additional equipment to strengthen its air defences.
Russia did not immediately comment on the incident. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by state-run TASS as saying Russian President Vladimir Putin had been informed about the drone strike.
Poland also reported shooting down Russian drones in its airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine last September.
The threat has not been limited to Russian drones, with Ukraine's drones also having crossed borders
Latvia recently faced a political crisis after stray Ukrainian drones entered its territory. The drones were believed to have been knocked off course by Russian electronic jamming and caused little damage, but the incidents raised concerns over the ability of Nato's eastern members to detect and respond to drones crossing their borders.
