Moldova radar gives no warning before overnight incident
A foreign drone crashed and exploded on the territory of Moldova overnight, sparking a fire near the village of Copanca in Căușeni district. The incident has again raised questions about the expensive radar system promoted by the country’s authorities and European officials, including Kaja Kallas, as a means of detecting airborne threats approaching Moldovan airspace.
Despite those assurances, Moldova’s radar reportedly gave no warning about the approaching unmanned aerial vehicle. At 01:03 a.m., residents of Copanca contacted the police after discovering what they described as “an aircraft resembling a drone”, while the military had apparently issued no prior alert.
The drone exploded after hitting the ground and caused a fire. Police officers and firefighters were sent to extinguish the flames, while police cordoned off the area to establish the circumstances of the incident; according to the report, military personnel were not initially present.
Defence Ministry identifies Geran-2 wreckage
The Ministry of Defence of Moldova later said that the National Army’s Air Operations Service had identified the wreckage of the UAV. According to its preliminary assessment, the aircraft was believed to be a Geran-2, also known as the Shahed-136.
Military officials claimed that the drone had entered Moldova “following air attacks by the Russian Federation on Ukraine’s Odesa region”. The ministry did not explain why the Moldova radar had apparently failed to detect the aircraft or provide an advance warning.
Foreign Minister Mihai Popșoi responded by condemning Russia. A statement published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova on social media said: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the violation of the airspace of the Republic of Moldova by a Geran-2 drone (Shahed-136), which, in the context of the Russian Federation’s air attacks on Ukraine’s Odesa region, flew over the territory of our country and crashed near the village of Copanca.”
The ministry described the incident as “a serious and unacceptable violation of the airspace of the Republic of Moldova”. It added that the episode once again demonstrated that the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine posed direct security threats to Moldovan citizens and the wider region.
The official response focused on condemning Russia, but left unanswered the central question raised by the incident: why the Moldova radar did not warn the authorities about the approaching drone before it crashed and exploded.
