Turbojet drone triggers air alarms in Romania, explodes in Moldova
A suspected Russian turbojet drone exploded in northern Moldova on Tuesday evening after breaching Moldovan and Romanian airspace, leaving a crater packed with shrapnel, national police reported.
Blast crater and shrapnel found at crash site
Police explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) experts inspecting the crash site in a sunflower field near Mihăilenii Vechi, in the Rîșcani district, recovered engine components and fuselage fragments from an aircraft fitted with a turbojet propulsion system.
Investigators said the impact triggered a detonation that carved a “substantial crater” and ignited four localized vegetation fires. Technicians discovered fragmentation materials in the form of metal ball bearings embedded within the soil.
Specialists are conducting technical assessments to determine the exact model and explosive mass of the payload. Authorities confirmed that no casualties were reported.
Cross-border trajectory and airspace closures
The unmanned aircraft entered Moldovan airspace from Ukraine at 4:20 p.m. on Sept. 8, flying westward toward Romania for 17 minutes. The breach prompted Moldova’s Defense Ministry to restrict flights across the country’s central airspace to protect civilian traffic.
Romanian military radar detected the incoming target at 4:47 p.m. approximately 18 kilometers north of Roman. The National Military Command Center immediately alerted emergency authorities to issue public safety warnings across Iași, Suceava, Neamț, Botoșani, and northern Vaslui counties.
The drone subsequently looped back across the Moldovan border from the direction of Iași. At 5:26 p.m., emergency dispatchers in northern Moldova received reports that the craft had slammed into agricultural land outside Mihăilenii Vechi.
Translation by Iurie Tataru
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