Zelenskyy’s Jet Nearly Erased by Russian Drone Playing Moldovan Pong

KEY POINTS

•On Tuesday afternoon, Zelenskyy’s Airbus A319 was nearly hit by a Shahed drone while preparing to fly from Moldova to Norway.
•Moldovan officials closed their airspace after detecting the Russian drone’s incursion, which then crashed in Glodeni district.
•NATO claims this drone surge is a tactic to probe Eastern European defenses, though Moscow denies any such intent.

On Tuesday around 4:20 p.m., as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy politely prepared to jet from Moldova to King Harald of Norway's funeral (because necropolitics is a full-contact sport), a Russian Shahed drone decided to RSVP with a kamikaze near-miss. NATO’s favorite Norse PM, Jonas Gahr Støre, casually mentioned Zelenskyy's plane was 'almost hit' — exact distance unknown, presumably classified as 'Russian Roulette.' Moldova, squeezed between Ukraine and invincible tactical awkwardness, reported the Shahed crossed their airspace twice and crashed in Glodeni district, igniting a fire with zero casualties and 100% unintended pyrotechnics. Meanwhile, NATO accused Russia of drone-dumping in Eastern Europe like it’s an experimental TikTok viral stunt, while Moscow denies this like a digital ghost in drone machine.