Drone nearly strikes Zelenskyy’s plane before takeoff for Norwegian king’s funeral, PM says

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A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Norway for the king’s state funeral was “almost hit” by a drone as it prepared to take off from Moldova on Tuesday, according toReuters.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told public broadcaster NRK about the incident Wednesday, the outlet said, after Zelenskyy’s aircraft arrived safely in Oslo Tuesday evening.

“His plane was almost hit by a drone as it was about to take off from Moldova.That is the reality he is facing,” Støre said, without specifying how close the drone came to the Ukrainian leader’s aircraft.

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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gestures during his meeting with Britain’s prime minister on the sideline of the G7 summit in Evian, eastern France, June 16, 2026.(Isabel Infantes Pool/AFP via Getty Images)

Later Wednesday, a Moldovan government spokesperson said twoRussian droneswere involved in the incident, with Zelenskyy’s departure to Oslo delayed after authorities closed the country’s airspace.

His aircraft was then cleared for takeoff once officials determined that one Russian drone had landed on Moldovan territory, a spokesperson told Reuters.

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This photograph taken Jan.5, 2026, shows a partial view of the village of Cuhurestii de Jos, Northern Moldova, close to the Ukrainian border. (Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images)

One landed in a field north of the capital, sparking a fire, while the other continued into Romanian airspace.

The incursions forced Chișinău International Airport totemporarily suspend arrivals and departuresTuesday, sending incoming flights into holding patterns or diverting them to neighboring countries, according to tracking data.

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Moldova’s President Maia Sandu and Russian President Vladimir Putin(Horacio Villalobos Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images;Contributor/Getty Images)

Moldovan President Maia Sandu denounced the incursions as a “serious threat to people’s lives” and separately condemned aRussian drone strikeon a border crossing with Ukraine that killed two people.

Zelenskyy arrived in Oslo Tuesday evening, where he discussed military aid, including air defense support and civilian assistance with Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, according toDeutsche Welle.

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TheInstitute for the Study of Waralso said a Russian Shahed drone flew through Moldovan and Romanian airspace for about an hour Tuesday before crashing in Moldova.

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