Moldova Republic: Russian ambassador to Chisinau summoned by Foreign Ministry after new incident with drone illegally entering air space

Oleg Ozerov, the Russian ambassador to Chisinau was summoned on Thursday by the Moldovan Foreign Ministry to receive an official protest note about a Russian drone illegally flying over Moldova's air space on Wednesday, Radio Moldova informed.   “The Russian ambassador was informed about Moldova's firm protest for the serious infringement of national sovereignty and the risks created for the citizens' security. The Foreign Ministry reiterates the call to the Russian Federation to avoid any actions which could endanger Moldova's security and to strictly observe the territorial sovereignty and integrity of our country”, shows the press release of the Chisinau diplomacy.   As before the Russian diplomat declared, when leaving the Foreign Ministry, that he was not shown evidences that the drone had been launched by Russia. “We wonder why the Russian and not the Ukrainian ambassador was invited, considering that the drone came from Ukraine. The second observation is that I want to remind that Ukrainian drones have flown over foreign lands very often,” said Oleg Ozerov.   The Russian Federation ambassador invited the Chisinau authorities “not to be influenced by foreign factors which would like to involve Moldova in a confrontation with the Russian Federation.”   “I noticed that the Defence Ministry initially denied any drone passage. After consultations with Ukrainian and Romanian militaries they said the drone had not been found,” Ozerov added, quoted by Radio Moldova.   Asked by journalists how long countries neighboring Ukraine will be exposed to the danger, after a series of incidents with Russian drones in several states, the Russian ambassador avoided answering. “I am done,” he told the journalists.   On the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, Moldova's air space was penetrated by a drone. According to the Defence Ministry, the confirmation came following an exchange of information with partners from Ukraine and Romania, who pointed out the presence of the airplane over the national territory.   According to data presented, the drone crossed Moldova's air space between 03:22-03:35, entering from Lesnaia, Ukraine and going toward Saiti, Stefan Voda region. The drone was at a height of 100 meters, which made it impossible to be detected by Moldova's air space monitoring systems. Since the beginning of the Ukraine war by the Russian Federation, several Russian drones illegally flew over Moldova's air space and some of them fell andexploded near localities.   Russian drones with explosives have not made any vistimes in Moldova so far, the radio station noted.