Zelensky’s plane almost hit by drone on Tuesday, Norway PM says

Frederik Ringnes/NTB/Reuters

The plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Oslo for the funeral of ​the King of Norway was nearly struck by a drone ‌when taking off from Moldova on Tuesday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told public broadcaster NRK on Wednesday.

“His plane was almost hit by a drone as it ​was about to take off from Moldova. That is the ​reality he is facing,” said Støre, who did not say ⁠what his source was for the information or how close the drone ​came.

The departure from Moldova of the plane carrying Zelensky to Norway was delayed when authorities closed the country’s airspace because of a drone alert, a Moldovan government spokesperson said Wednesday.

The spokesperson said the president’s aircraft was later cleared for take-off once it had been established that a Russian drone had come down on Moldovan territory.

The Ukrainian government has not yet confirmed the incident took place. CNN has approached Kyiv for comment.

Arrivals ​and departures at Chisinau airport were suspended for a time on Tuesday in connection with two Russian drones that entered Moldovan airspace. Several flights bound for the capital landed ​at airports outside Moldova or were forced into holding patterns, according ​to data from Flightradar24.

One drone landed in a field, triggering a fire, while the ‌second carried ⁠on into Romanian airspace.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu denounced the intrusions as a “serious threat to people’s lives” and also condemned an attack on a border crossing with Ukraine that killed two people.

Zelensky attended the funeral of King Harald ​V of Norway ​on Wednesday, marching ⁠behind his coffin along with other heads of state in central Oslo. He left Norway soon after the ​funeral was over.

Frederik Ringnes/NTB/路透社

挪威首相乔纳斯·加尔·施特勒周三告诉挪威公共广播公司NRK，周二，载着乌克兰总统弗拉基米尔·泽连斯基前往奥斯陆参加挪威国王葬礼的飞机在从摩尔多瓦起飞时险些被无人机撞击。

“他的飞机在摩尔多瓦起飞前差点被无人机击中。这就是他面临的现实，”斯托雷说道，但他没有透露消息来源，也没有说明无人机离飞机有多近。

摩尔多瓦政府发言人周三表示，由于无人机警报，当局关闭了该国领空，导致载有泽连斯基前往挪威的飞机从摩尔多瓦起飞的时间被推迟。

发言人表示，在确认一架俄罗斯无人机坠落在摩尔多瓦领土后，总统的专机随后获准起飞。

乌克兰政府尚未证实该事件发生。CNN已联系基辅方面寻求置评。

周二，由于两架俄罗斯无人机闯入摩尔多瓦领空，基希讷乌机场的航班起降一度暂停。据Flightradar24数据显示，多架飞往首都的航班被迫降落在摩尔多瓦境外机场或盘旋等待。

一架无人机降落在田野里，引发火灾，而第二架无人机则继续飞入罗马尼亚领空。

摩尔多瓦总统玛雅·桑杜谴责这些入侵行为“严重威胁人民生命”，并谴责了对乌克兰边境口岸的袭击，该袭击造成两人死亡。

泽连斯基周三出席了挪威国王哈拉尔五世的葬礼，与其他国家元首一起在奥斯陆市中心跟随灵柩游行。葬礼结束后不久，他便离开了挪威。