Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky told CBS News that while his presidential aircraft was in Moldova, Russian drones entered the country's airspace twice. According to Zelensky, these incidents could have posed a direct threat to his life.

"My presidential plane was in Moldova, so they attacked Moldova. They used Moldovan airspace. Maybe they didn't aim to attack me personally… We didn't disclose this to the media, but when we were returning home through Chisinau, they repeated the same thing," Zelensky said. When asked by a journalist whether Moscow was trying to intimidate him, the Ukrainian president answered affirmatively.

Zelensky recounted these incidents while commenting on a Russian drone strike near a special train carrying European diplomats and officials from Ukraine to Poland. According to Zelensky, Russia knew that the train carried "Europeans, Americans, and large delegations." "And they struck. This is often repeated in Moldova, Romania, and sometimes Poland. It's a process. They are demonstrating their strength, and, as you know, when they demonstrate this power, no one responds," Zelensky said.

Earlier, on September 9, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said that Zelensky's plane nearly collided with a drone while flying from Moldova to Oslo. Later, the Moldovan government's press service confirmed that the country's airspace was closed due to a drone, and therefore the departure of the Ukrainian president's plane from Chisinau was delayed. According to Moldova Liberă, the report of a drone in the airspace came at 16:30. After 17:20, it became known that the drone exploded near the village of Starye Mikhaileny in the Rezina district, about 160 km from Chisinau airport. After that, restrictions were lifted, and Zelensky's plane took off.

An AFP source in the Ukrainian president's office called the Norwegian prime minister's statement that Zelensky's plane almost collided with a drone an "exaggeration." Russian President's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said that the threat to Zelensky's plane was "unfounded" and that "the Ukrainians themselves admit this." These statements have sparked sharp international debate.

Source: www.gazeta.uz