A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from Moldova to Oslo for the funeral of Norway's King Harald V was almost struck by a drone, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said Wednesday, though Ukraine's own presidency pushed back on the severity of the moment.
"His flight was almost hit by a drone when it was taking off from Moldova. That is the reality he lives in," Støre told public broadcaster NRK, according to CBS News. He offered no further details.
A source in the Ukrainian presidency gave AFP a more measured account, saying, "It was an alert in Moldova when a Russian (drone) entered Moldovan and Romanian airspace." The same source called the suggestion that Zelenskyy was personally at risk "exaggerated."
The region has been saturated with such incursions in recent months, with Russian drones repeatedly violating Moldovan airspace and disrupting airports across northern Europe, which complicates any read of what the drone near Zelenskyy's plane was meant to do.
Online, the report landed with alarm before those caveats set in.
National security journalist Shashank Joshi called it "just one data point, but not encouraging if part of [CIA Director John] Ratcliffe's trip to Moscow was to send a deterrent message to Russia on aggressive and violent actions in Europe."
Journalist Christopher Merrill reacted simply: "OMG."
Middle East correspondent Amichai Stein reported a sharper claim, writing that a source with knowledge told him the delegation waited out the drone and that "Moldova's authorities think that it was not accidentally." That assessment has not been confirmed by Moldovan officials on the record.
Zelenskyy arrived in Oslo on Tuesday evening for talks with Støre on Norwegian military aid, then attended Wednesday's funeral for Harald, who died Aug. 28 at 89, alongside Britain's Prince William, Japan's Crown Prince Akishino and leaders from more than 20 countries.