Prime Minister: In August alone, 17 drones struck our territory. This is extremely worrying

Prime Minister Vasile Tofan condemned the Russian Federation’s drone attacks on Ukraine and expressed concern over the intensification of drone-related incidents reported in our country. The official emphasized that Russia has reached the point of spending $25 million per hour on this war and stressed that the Republic of Moldova must take measures to strengthen security and protect its citizens.

The official noted that 17 drones struck our territory in August alone, a figure higher than the total recorded throughout last year.


“We are starting with some bad news. Last night, the Starokazachye border crossing was attacked by drones. It is located about one kilometer from our border crossing. The attack resulted in two deaths and injuries. I want to draw attention to the issue of drones because it has become somewhat routine, but we must understand that it has become routine because the attacks have intensified so much. In August alone, 17 drones struck our territory. That is more than throughout the entire previous year. It is becoming normal in a way, but at the same time I believe it is extremely worrying,” Vasile Tofan said at the beginning of today’s government meeting.


The prime minister added that even more worrying is the fact that “representatives of certain political forces do not treat these extremely serious matters with the necessary seriousness.”


“Even more worrying is the fact that we continue to have political forces in our country that do not treat these extremely serious matters with the necessary seriousness. Drones do not discriminate based on citizenship; they endanger the lives of our citizens and our children. It is very important that those who do not take this issue seriously—I am referring to political forces that fail to recognize its seriousness—change their rhetoric, because it is extremely dangerous rhetoric for our security,” the prime minister stated.


Vasile Tofan emphasized that it is important for the Republic of Moldova to continue strengthening its security and deepen cooperation with partner states.


“We must focus on the things we can control. This concerns modernizing our army. We cannot treat this as a routine matter. It is an issue of national importance. We must deepen our cooperation with friendly states that care about our security. We must better protect our airspace,” the official pointed out.


At the same time, the prime minister stressed that Russia has reached the point of spending $25 million per hour on this war.


“We must call things by their proper names: this war has an aggressor. The name of this aggressor is clear: Russia, a country that has reached the point of spending $25 million per hour on this war, increasingly endangering the lives of our citizens as well,” Vasile Tofan concluded.


A drone crashed on Tuesday in a sunflower field outside the village of Mihăilenii Vechi, in Rîșcani District. As a result, four fires broke out. No injuries were reported. The incident was reported after authorities announced that an unmanned aerial vehicle had entered the airspace of the Republic of Moldova without authorization from Ukraine. Shortly afterward, it left the country’s airspace, heading toward Romania. The drone later returned from the direction of Iași, and the crash was subsequently reported.

At the same time, Ukraine’s Starokazachye border crossing, located near the border of the Republic of Moldova, was attacked by a drone during the night of September 8–9. Two civilians were killed and two others were injured in the attack.