The plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Norway for the funeral of the Norwegian king narrowly avoided being struck by a drone while taking off from Moldova on Tuesday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre confirmed.

“His plane was almost hit by a drone as it was about to take off from Moldova,” Støre told the Norwegian NRK public broadcaster. “That’s the reality he’s facing.”

Moldova was forced to close its airspace because of the drone incursion, government spokesperson Dumitru Ciorici said Wednesday, forcing several incoming flights to circle overhead or land at airports outside the country.

The departures of three planes, including Zelenskyy’s, were delayed.

The drone crashed in a sunflower field on the outskirts of a village 160 kilometers (100 miles) from Chișinău International Airport, sparking four fires. No injuries were reported.

The airspace restrictions were lifted, and Zelenskyy’s plane took off later than scheduled.

The drone crossed into neighboring Romania, a NATO member, where it was tracked through several northeastern counties.

The ministry said two F-18 aircraft of the Spanish Air and Space Forces were raised to track its trajectory before it reentered Moldovan airspace.

On Wednesday, Moldova’s police said explosives experts discovered fragments of the drone that featured a propulsion system and characteristics similar to a Geran-type drone, which Moscow has used extensively in its full-scale war in Ukraine.

“Investigations identified the point of impact, where an explosion occurred and a crater of considerable size was formed,” police said, adding that specialists are continuing investigations “to determine the type and mass of the explosive payload.”

Ukraine neighbors both Romania and Moldova, and since Russia’s full invasion in 2022, both countries have reported dozens of drone incidents.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem & AP)