Overview
- Moldova confirmed that a suspected Russian Shahed‑type drone entered its airspace on Sept. 8, forcing a temporary airspace closure, delaying departures at Chișinău airport, and sending one drone crashing about 160 kilometres from the capital.
- Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told NRK that President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plane was “almost hit” as it took off from Moldova, a claim the Ukrainian presidency called exaggerated while officials said the flight was delayed for safety checks.
- Zelensky arrived safely in Oslo for King Harald V’s funeral, met Norwegian officials to press for air‑defence help and to discuss the FREYJA European anti‑ballistic initiative, and then traveled to Canada for further talks.
- Canada announced a C$350 million package to buy air‑defence interceptors for Ukraine through a U.S. third‑party purchase channel and said it will scale domestic drone production with a share earmarked for Kyiv.
- The incident underscores a wider problem of intensified Russian missile and drone strikes that have strained allied stocks of interceptors, prompted urgent procurement and industrial cooperation, and left Ukraine facing serious air‑defence shortfalls ahead of winter.