UAV event in Rîșcani, Mihăileni area, Moldova, Republic of on Tue 8th September 2026

A Russian jet-powered Shahed-type drone crossed the entire territory of Moldova today, entered NATO-member Romania, then turned back into Moldova and eventually crashed in the north of the country. The drone entered Moldova from Ukraine at around 16:20, flew via Bender toward Chișinău and Ungheni, and crossed into Romania near Iași at 16:37. Romania issued RO-Alert warnings across five counties, temporarily suspended operations at Iași Airport and scrambled two Spanish F-18s on NATO air-policing duty. The drone flew as far as the Roman area before radar contact was lost at 17:02. Six minutes later, the same drone reappeared over Moldova, continued north through the Cobani and Drochia areas and disappeared from radar near Sturzovca. At 17:26, it crashed in a sunflower field near Mihăilenii Vechi, Rîșcani District, starting four fires. No casualties were reported. The drone to have covered roughly 450–500 km over Moldova and Romania before crashing.