San Francisco Frontiers - Moldova displays Russian drone, summons envoy over 'unacceptable' crash

The small ex-Soviet republic, wedged between Ukraine and NATO member Romania, has repeatedly seen violations of its airspace since Russia's invasion of its neighbour in 2022 and has expelled dozens of diplomats and employees of the Russian embassy.

After summoning Oleg Ozerov, the Russian ambassador to Chisinau, on Wednesday, Moldova's foreign ministry placed the crashed drone in front of its headquarters.

The ministry later published a video on social media of Ozerov exiting the building and passing by the drone marked with a red "Z".

On Tuesday, the drone had fallen on a house in a village in northeastern Moldova, close to the border with Ukraine. Six drones in total had breached Moldova's airspace, according to the government.

The foreign ministry said it had handed Ozerov "a note of protest regarding the illegal overflight", deeming it "totally unacceptable" and "a serious violation of the sovereignty" of Moldova.

Asked by local media about the crashed drone, Ozerov dismissed the matter, questioning why the drone was found on a roof without destroying anything.

"Do you believe this?", he asked, pointing to "many attempts to damage our relations with Moldova, which are already at their lowest point in history".

Moldova's pro-EU government announced in early November that it had approved a bill to close a Russian cultural centre, deeming it "by no means cultural".

The move was condemned by the Kremlin and pro-Russian opposition at home.

The bill is awaiting final approval by parliament, while the government plans to close the centre by summer 2026.

V.Mitchell--SFF