Moldova just reported Russian drones exploding on its territory

Russian drones just crossed into Moldova three times in one day.

And one of them blew up near a village right in the middle of the country.

This happened three days ago, on 30 September.

Moldova isn't in NATO. It isn't in the EU either. But it sits right next to Ukraine, and Russian drones keep ending up in its skies.

So here's how the day went.

First drone, 5:43 in the morning. It came down outside the village of Hirbovat, in Anenii Noi district. Hit a telecoms mast. Blew up about 40 metres in the air. Nobody was hurt.

Second drone, 10:26am. This one came in from the east, through Transnistria. Jet-powered. Doing around 400 kilometres an hour. Spotted over the village of Lunga, heading for the town of Soroca.

Third drone, 8:45 at night. This is the serious one.

It crossed in from Ukraine's Vinnytsia region, flew over Transnistria, then vanished off the monitors near the village of Branesti, in Orhei district.

It was a Geran-4. Jet-powered. An attack drone. It came down in trees next to a public road, and the wreckage, with Geran-4 markings on it, was scattered across 120 metres.

And here's the thing. All three of these happened the same night Russia hit Ukraine with one of its heaviest attacks in weeks.

188 drones. Zircon, Onyx and Iskander missiles in the mix too. Ukraine's air force says it shot down or jammed five missiles and 155 drones.

So Moldova got the ones that slipped past.

Anatolie Nosatii, Moldova's Defence Minister, said the second drone that day was the 84th time Russian or Russian-linked drones and missiles have crossed into Moldovan airspace.

Moldova's own Defence Ministry had already counted 81 violations between 2022 and 24 September this year. 44 of those happened in 2026 alone.

So the number is climbing fast, and it's climbing this year.

One day after the drones came down, Moldova's Foreign Ministry summoned Oleg Ozerov, Russia's ambassador in Chisinau, over it.

Oleg Ozerov has said the drones over Moldova could well be Russian. But he says Russia's attacks are aimed at Ukraine, not Moldova.

So that's Russia's own ambassador saying the drones are probably theirs, while saying Moldova was never the target.

And this isn't the first time.

On 8 September, a Russian drone delayed Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plane from taking off in Chisinau. On 17 August, a Russian S8000 Banderol cruise missile crossed into Moldova and crashed in a cornfield near the village of Talmaz, in Stefan Voda district.

So this is a pattern. Not a one-off.

A country next door to the war, with no NATO air defence of its own, keeps finding Russian weapons landing on its territory.

What we don't know is whether Russia meant to hit anything in Moldova at all, or whether these are just stray weapons that lost their way heading for Ukraine.

Russia hasn't said anything publicly since the ambassador was summoned.

And Moldova hasn't said what happens next either. No sanctions. No request for NATO or EU help. Nothing announced.

For now, it's a diplomatic protest. And the drones keep coming.