Norway’s prime minister says Zelensky’s plane nearly collided with drone en route from Moldova to Oslo

A drone nearly collided with the plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as it took off from Moldova en route to Oslo, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said.“His plane very nearly collided with a drone when it was about to take off from Moldova. That’s the reality he lives in,” Støre said, as quoted by NRK, Norway’s state broadcaster.Støre offered no further details, leaving it unclear how he learned of the incident, whose drone came close to hitting the presidential plane, and whether it was an accident or a deliberate attempt on Zelensky’s life.Støre’s office added: “Yesterday there was a drone threat in the airspace over Moldova that delayed Zelensky’s plane on its way to Oslo. These are the kinds of threats he lives with every day. It is not known how close the drones came to his plane.”Ukraine has not commented on Støre’s statement.Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Oslo from Moldova on the evening of September 8 to attend the funeral of King Harald V.Russian drones attacked the “Starokozache” international vehicle checkpoint in the Odesa region, on the border with Moldova, overnight on September 9. The airport from which Zelensky flew to Oslo is about a two-hour drive from that checkpoint, according to NRK.At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at [email protected].To read Meduza’s exclusive content in English, please subscribe to our newsletter.