VIDEO // Defence Minister about crash of aircraft in Talmaza: Russia's hostile activities against Ukraine also endanger Moldova

Russia's hostile activities against Ukraine also endanger the Republic of Moldova. Russia continues to pursue an aggressive policy, violating our neutrality and putting citizens at risk. Minister of Defence Anatolie Nosatîi made the statement, after an unmanned aerial vehicle crashed and exploded last night in the outskirts of the village of Talmaza, Ștefan Vodă district.

The official mentioned that recently, there have been several cases of violation of the state border through the illegal overflight by aircraft of the Russian Federation, which endanger the lives of our citizens.

“The hostile activities of the Russian Federation against Ukraine also endanger the Republic of Moldova. As I have mentioned countless times, as long as there is war and the Russian Federation continues to attack civilian infrastructure, putting the lives of civilians at risk, this also affects neighbouring countries. This has been demonstrated in almost 60 cases of violation of the airspace of the Republic of Moldova. Russia continues to pursue an aggressive policy, violating our neutrality and endangering citizens,” Nosatîi said.

An unmanned aerial vehicle crashed last night in the outskirts of the village of Talmaza, Ștefan Vodă district. According to the police, it has features similar to a rocket‑drone, equipped with a turbojet propulsion system.

The impact occurred in an agricultural field planted with corn, where a crater about two metres in diameter and around 50 centimetres deep was identified. The blast wave spread over an area of approximately 45 by 20 metres. As a result of the explosion, the nearby vegetation was set on fire. No person was injured.

At present, law enforcement bodies are carrying out several expert examinations and specialised investigations to determine the exact type of the aircraft, its technical characteristics and all the circumstances of the incident.

The Ministry of Defence announced that the airspace surveillance systems of the National Army detected, at 17:37, the entry into the national airspace of an aerial object on the Cuciurgan–Tiraspol direction. Measures were immediately taken to close the airspace in the Central sector for a period of 15 minutes.

President Maia Sandu reacted, stating that drones flying over the country’s airspace pose a danger to people. Responsibility for these risks lies with the Russian Federation, which launched the war against Ukraine, the president said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs firmly condemned the incident and stressed that “it constitutes a serious violation of the sovereignty of the Republic of Moldova and represents a direct risk to the security of our citizens”.

Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has led, starting in 2022, to a constant increase in incidents of unauthorised flights over the airspace of the Republic of Moldova and in cases of drone and missile fragments falling on national territory. Since the beginning of the war, around 60 incidents have been recorded, of which four in 2022, six in 2023, 10 in 2024, 17 in 2025 and a considerable increase in 2026, with 18 cases of unauthorised overflight of the airspace registered.