President about measures to stop Russian drones and aggression: Support Ukraine

The most effective solution to reduce the risk of drones flying over the airspace of the Republic of Moldova and crashing on its territory is to support Ukraine so that Russia can no longer continue the war. President Maia Sandu made the statement at a show. The head of state also stressed that protest notes and diplomatic measures are not sufficient to change Moscow’s policy.

“The most important things that can be done to stop these drones both in the Republic of Moldova and in Ukraine is to help Ukraine, so that Ukraine succeeds in this war and so that Russia can no longer continue fighting,” Maia Sandu said.

Maia Sandu pointed out that the drones flying over the airspace of the Republic of Moldova pose a danger to people. Responsibility for these risks lies with the Russian Federation, which launched the war against Ukraine.

“I believe that some arrive by accident, others arrive because they are purposefully sent, and not only into our airspace, but also into the airspace of other states. We have seen this in Romania and Poland. Judging by the trajectory of those drones, we can say which are intentionally sent and which are there by accident, but in both cases these drones violate our country’s airspace and, in both cases, they represent a danger to people. The only party responsible for these things is the Russian Federation, which started this war, which launched the war with drones. Since that aggression initiated by the Russian Federation, we have reached a point where we see an increasingly dramatic development of drones and, with them, comes an enormous risk. We have seen how, in Ukraine, Russian drones literally hunt down citizens who are simply going about their business. We have seen the case of the man trying to sell vegetables in the street, who was hunted down by a guided Russian drone. We see that the risks are very high, and therefore we need to invest and protect our citizens,” the president said.

The president believes that risk reduction will be possible when international support for Ukraine is greater and the Russian Federation’s economic resources are diminished so that it can no longer produce weapons and continue its attacks. Referring to possible tougher diplomatic measures, including the expulsion of the Russian ambassador, Maia Sandu said that such steps would not make Russia change its behavior.

“Do you think this is a method that will stop Russia from its actions? Yes, it can be done. But do you think that because of this Russia will no longer violate the airspace? I do not believe that,” the head of state said.

Maia Sandu reiterated that truly effective measures are those that can help stop the war, and these require significant support for Ukraine so that Russia can no longer continue its aggression. The president’s statements were made on the same day the Ministry of Defense announced a new incident of airspace violation.

On Monday, 17 August, at 17:37, the National Army’s surveillance systems detected an aerial object entering the airspace of the Republic of Moldova on the Cuciurgan–Tiraspol direction. Later, the Police published images from outside the locality of Talmaza, where an explosion occurred.

“Specialists of the competent institutions are at the scene examining the aircraft as well as all circumstances,” the Police stated.

Today’s incident follows several similar cases recorded in recent weeks. On 9 August, a drone-missile fell and exploded near the village of Crocmaz, in Ștefan Vodă district, causing a vegetation fire.

During the night of 10–11 August, another aircraft with characteristics similar to a Geran-3 (Shahed-238) drone crossed the airspace of the Republic of Moldova without authorization, coming from the direction of the Odesa region. Also, on the morning of 16 August, another Shahed-type drone flew for approximately 18 minutes over the airspace of the Republic of Moldova after entering from the direction of the locality of Cotlovina, Reni region, Ukraine.