Moldova urges air defense upgrade after repeated incursions
An unauthorized airborne target breached Moldovan airspace on August 26, entering near the southeastern border village of Palanca in the Ștefan Vodă district at 17:38.
According to the National Army Air Operations Directorate, the object crossed back into Ukrainian airspace five minutes later, exiting near Tudora toward Gradinița in the Odessa region.
Moldova's Ministry of Defense confirmed that the unauthorized transit resulted directly from intensive Russian airstrikes conducted against Ukrainian territory earlier that day. National defense authorities, working alongside international security partners, maintain continuous airspace surveillance to protect civilian safety.
Airspace restrictions and escalating incursions
The incident marks the second airspace violation within days. An unmanned aerial vehicle entered sovereign Moldovan territory on the morning of August 24, lingering for nearly 14 minutes before exiting.
That previous breach prompted aviation officials to temporarily restrict flights across the southern sector of the country. Normal air traffic operations resumed approximately 15 minutes after the drone cleared national boundaries.
Urgent calls for defensive capabilities
Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatîi stressed that these recurring incidents underline the critical need to modernize Moldova’s defense capabilities. He urged the swift acquisition of high-performance monitoring and interception systems to safeguard national borders.
According to official National Army records, Moldovan airspace has suffered roughly 70 illegal incursions since the Russian Federation launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
