Diplomatic fallout from drone violation
President Maia Sandu declared a member of the Russian embassy in Moldova persona non grata after a Russian Geran drone violated Moldovan airspace and fell near homes in the country’s center. I view the decision to expel the diplomat as a direct consequence of the fact that the drone landed only 100 meters from a residential building in the village of Kistelnita, Telenesti District. A local resident reported the drone, which fell near family homes and an energy facility in the Telenesti District. Sandu called the event Russia’s "latest dangerous act" and stated that Russia’s war keeps putting Moldovan lives at risk. This incident follows a series of Russian drone incursions into Moldova’s airspace recorded during an overnight attack against Ukraine on Oct. 16. The drone entered the airspace at 1:59 p.m. local time during a large-scale Russian attack on Ukraine. I find the increasing frequency of these violations extremely alarming and unacceptable.
Flight path and border security risks
The defense ministry reported that the drone entered Moldovan airspace at 1:59 p.m. local time, traveling from the direction of Verkhnia Slobidka in Ukraine’s Vinnytsia Oblast toward Frunzauca in the Camenca District of Moldova’s Russian-controlled region of Transnistria. The drone disappeared from airspace monitoring near Pepeni in the Singerei district at 2:10 p.m. and reappeared briefly before it was lost again at 2:12 p.m. near Meseni in the Rezina district. I find the repetitive nature of these incursions completely unacceptable. On Oct. 5, the Moldovan Border Police reported that a projectile fired during a Russian attack against Ukraine ricocheted and struck a passenger bus and a border control booth at the Palanca-Maiaky-Udobne crossing, which lightly injured a border guard. Moldova announced plans on Oct. 7 to build shelters at border crossings to protect border guards and people nearby in response to these growing incursions. President Sandu has previously declared that Russia’s war against Ukraine is "dangerously reaching Moldova" due to these incursions. The drone’s flight path through the Singerei and Rezina districts ended when it was lost. The border guards will use these shelters.
