Moldova investigates border drone incursions and wreckage found near Chișinău

Airspace incursions detected over Căplani

Patrols from the Eastern Regional Directorate of the Moldovan Border Police detected multiple unidentified aerial vehicles in national airspace during the early hours of Saturday, 19 September 2026. The visual sightings began around 04:00 near the border village of Căplani. Border surveillance teams tracked two aircraft as they flew through Moldovan airspace along the Olănești-Cistovodnoe corridor before moving across the boundary. A third unmanned aerial vehicle entered the sky over Căplani from the direction of Crocmaz and subsequently exited national territory along the Căplani-Crutoiarovca vector. Border guards monitored the flight corridors from ground posts while maintaining constant operational communication with neighboring border units.

Border searches near Troițcoe

Later that morning, at 05:19, Ukrainian authorities transmitted an alert to the Moldovan Border Police regarding an airborne object that came down in the open countryside near Troițcoe. Ukrainian monitoring units reported that the falling object landed between 1.5 and 2 kilometers from the state border line and caught fire immediately upon impact. A Moldovan border patrol unit deployed to the adjacent sector to conduct physical ground inspections and identify any scattered debris or fire damage. Following coordinated verification actions and field searches conducted together with Ukrainian border officers, Moldovan authorities established that no fragments or explosion sites were located on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.

Turbojet drone explosion near Colonița

The Saturday border alert followed a separate incident recorded twenty-four hours earlier on the outskirts of Chișinău on Friday, 18 September 2026. Emergency operators at the national 112 service received multiple telephone calls around 04:20 from residents awakened by a loud blast southwest of the village of Colonița, heading towards Tohatin. Police patrols mobilized to the designated rural zones, carrying out immediate sweeps across Colonița and Humulești before ordering expanded checks in the nearby settlements of Dolinnoe and Maximovca. Specialized teams located a detonation site in an open field, where structural components and an intact propulsion engine were scattered over a radius of approximately 100 meters. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs later confirmed that the recovered fragments belonged to an unmanned drone fitted with a turbojet propulsion system.

Diplomatic condemnation and civilian safety guidance

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the cross-border flights, describing them as direct consequences of the aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Foreign ministry officials stated that the effects of military strikes against Ukraine do not halt at its international borders and that any unapproved entry into Moldovan airspace represents a breach of sovereignty.

“The unauthorized overflight of our country's territory represents a grave violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Moldova and constitutes a direct risk to the security of our citizens.”

Records compiled by law enforcement show that more than 70 incidents involving missiles and drones have been documented within Moldovan territory since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. In light of repeated debris discoveries, authorities urged citizens who spot suspicious aerial objects or hear blast noises to seek shelter inside secure buildings, avoid touching unknown metallic components, and alert emergency dispatchers via the 112 emergency telephone number.