Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told public broadcaster NRK that a plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was "almost hit by a drone" as it prepared to take off from Moldova en route to Oslo for King Harald V's state funeral [1][2][40]. Støre described the episode as "the reality he lives in" and said that when he asked Zelensky how his night had been, the Ukrainian president replied that it had not been good because he had spent it on the phone receiving news of where missiles had fallen [1][6]. Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, the former NATO Secretary-General, confirmed that Zelensky himself raised the incident at a Tuesday evening meeting in Oslo, saying his departure had been delayed and that there were threats against the plane, though he declined to give details [3][7][11]. State Secretary Bhanuja Rasiah told NRK that a drone threat in Moldovan airspace delayed the flight, adding that it was unclear how close the drone came to the aircraft [6][40].
Moldovan government spokesperson Dumitru Ciorici said the country's airspace was temporarily closed after a Russian drone entered from Ukraine, and that Zelensky's plane departed late from Chisinau airport for that reason [38][41]. Moldovan police reported the drone crashed in a sunflower field in Riscani district, approximately 160 kilometers from Chisinau airport, causing fires but no injuries [31][33]. A source within the Ukrainian presidency called the description of the incident exaggerated, saying it amounted to an air alert issued when a Russian drone entered Moldovan and Romanian airspace [41][42]. The Moldovan government confirmed that President Maia Sandu was not aboard Zelensky's plane [39].
The Institute for the Study of War tracked a suspected Russian Shahed-type drone entering Moldovan airspace from Ukraine at approximately 4:20 p.m. on Sept. 8, crossing into Romania at about 4:37 p.m., and spending roughly an hour in Moldovan and Romanian airspace before crashing near Mihaileni Vechi in Moldova [5][14][23]. The incursion triggered airspace closures, emergency shelter alerts, and the scrambling of Spanish F/A-18 fighter jets on a NATO air-policing mission from Romania [14][23]. Romania's Ministry of Defence reported radar detection of an air target crossing five counties, issuing RO-Alert warnings, with two F-18s scrambled before the alert ceased at 5:33 p.m. [37]. Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan said 17 drones struck Moldovan territory in August alone, more than during all of the previous year, calling the pattern "extremely worrying" [9][40]. President Sandu denounced the incursions as a "serious threat to people's lives" and urged more air-defense support for Ukraine [12][27].
The Kyiv Independent reported that the timing of the near-miss — coming shortly after a US-led peace push that ended with little progress — has raised fears of a deliberate Russian assassination attempt, noting President Vladimir Putin's record of suspected assassinations of political rivals, including the August 2023 downing of Yevgeny Prigozhin's private jet [14]. The Russian Defence Ministry's daily war report, covering the same period, stated that Russian forces struck logistics installations at the Starokazache checkpoint on the border with Moldova, which it said were used to import weapons into Ukraine [7][11]. Russian state-aligned analysts reproduced a Two Majors channel analysis rejecting the "almost shot down" framing, arguing there was no evidence of deliberate targeting and that Zelensky's plane departed about 18 minutes after Moldovan airspace reopened [32].
The same overnight wave of strikes hit civilian infrastructure across Ukraine. Odesa regional governor Oleg Kiper said a Russian drone strike on the Starokozache international road checkpoint killed two civilians and wounded three [9][19]. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said a Russian drone struck a 24-story residential building in the Darnytskyi district, injuring five people [25]. A Russian drone also struck the Kyiv headquarters of Ukrainian television channel We Are Ukraine as journalists broadcast live; Zelensky called it "a new page in Russian degradation" and said Russia "must be stopped, and this is possible only through joint efforts" [4]. Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported a combat drone hitting a five-story apartment building's roof [28].
Ukrainian forces carried out their own long-range strikes. Ukraine's Special Operations Forces said they struck the Novy Urengoy gas condensate treatment plant in Russia's Yamalo-Nenets region, approximately 3,200 kilometers from the border — the deepest strike of the war — in an area "previously considered completely safe territory for the aggressor" [27]. Drone manufacturer Fire Point said its FP-1 drone covered 3,300 kilometers to reach the target, and military analyst Yan Matveev confirmed it as the longest-range strike since the full-scale war began [24]. Ukraine's General Staff said drones also struck Russia's Novorossiysk naval base and fuel terminal, where HUR reported the frigate Admiral Essen was burning [27]. Krasnodar Krai Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said the Novorossiysk attack killed four people, including a child, and injured 29 [19][20]. Ukrainian naval drones also attacked the seafront of Sochi, injuring eight people [26].
The drone incident occurred alongside a US-brokered diplomatic track. US envoy Steve Witkoff said "substantive progress was made" in talks following visits to Kyiv and Moscow alongside Jared Kushner, though he offered no details [4]. A three-day pause on strikes against the two capitals coincided with the envoys' visits, and Putin and Trump held an hour-long phone call that Moscow described as "constructive and very frank" [4][20]. Senior Kremlin adviser Yuriy Ushakov said the Kremlin's "set objectives would be achieved" through significant battlefield advances, and Moscow called discussion of a summit venue or dates "too early" [4][20]. Russia resumed near-daily airstrikes on Kyiv after the pause ended [20].
Zelensky held talks in Oslo with Støre, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, and Stoltenberg on military aid including air-defense support, and met defense industry executives from partner countries to discuss the FREYJA European anti-ballistic missile program [2][5][22]. He said he expected "the first practical results" from the program and thanked Norway and partners for working to protect Europe's skies [2]. Zelensky then left Norway for Canada to meet leaders in Ottawa [5].