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Moldova’s foreign ministry condemns violation of airspace, explosion of aerial object

By Thomson Reuters Aug 17, 2026 | 6:29 PM

CHISINAU, Aug 18 (Reuters) – Moldova’s foreign ministry condemned the violation of the country’s airspace by ​an unidentified aerial object that ‌later exploded on Monday, it said in a statement on social media.

Moldova shares a border with Ukraine and supports ‌that ​country in Russia’s ⁠war in Ukraine. ⁠It has dealt with numerous incidents of drones flying over its territory and debris near the border.

The ​aerial object entered Moldovan airspace at 1737 local time (1437 GMT) ⁠and exploded shortly ⁠after, near the settlement ​of Talmaza, close to the border ​with Ukraine, Moldovan authorities said. The ‌explosion set grass on fire but there were no casualties, they said. They did not identify ⁠the origin of the object.

“This incident constitutes a serious violation of the sovereignty of ⁠the ‌Republic of Moldova and ⁠poses a direct risk ​to ‌the safety of our citizens. ​Such incidents ⁠are unacceptable,” the foreign ministry said in its statement.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas in Chisinau; Writing by Jekaterīna Golubkova in Tokyo; Editing by ​Matthew Lewis)