Drone nearly strikes Zelenskyy's plane before takeoff for Norwegian king's funeral, PM reports

<p>A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Norway for the king’s state funeral was "almost hit" by a drone as it prepared to take off from Moldova on Tuesday, according to Reuters.</p><p>Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre informed public broadcaster NRK about the incident on Wednesday, following Zelenskyy’s aircraft's safe arrival in Oslo on Tuesday evening.</p><p>"His plane was almost hit by a drone as it was about to take off from Moldova. That is the reality he is facing," Støre stated, without providing details on how close the drone came to the aircraft.</p><p>Later on Wednesday, a Moldovan government spokesperson indicated that two Russian drones were involved in the incident, which delayed Zelenskyy’s departure to Oslo after authorities closed the country’s airspace.</p><p>His aircraft was cleared for takeoff once officials determined that one Russian drone had landed on Moldovan territory, according to the spokesperson.</p><p>One drone landed in a field north of the capital, causing a fire, while the other continued into Romanian airspace.</p><p>The incursions led to Chișinău International Airport temporarily suspending arrivals and departures on Tuesday, resulting in incoming flights being placed in holding patterns or diverted to neighboring countries, as reported by tracking data.</p><p>Moldovan President Maia Sandu condemned the incursions as a "serious threat to people’s lives" and also criticized a Russian drone strike on a border crossing with Ukraine that resulted in two fatalities.</p><p>Zelenskyy arrived in Oslo on Tuesday evening, where he discussed military aid, including air defense support and civilian assistance, with Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide and Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, according to Deutsche Welle.</p><p>The Institute for the Study of War reported that a Russian Shahed drone traveled through Moldovan and Romanian airspace for about an hour on Tuesday before crashing in Moldova.</p>