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A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was "almost hit" by a drone as it prepared to take off from Moldova, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said, though Ukrainian officials later described the characterization as "exaggerated."
Zelenskyy was traveling to Oslo to attend the funeral of Norway's King Harald V when Moldovan authorities grounded his flight Tuesday afternoon after detecting a drone incursion.
"His plane was almost hit by a drone as it was about to take off from Moldova. That is the reality he is facing," Store told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK, without specifying his source for the information or how close the drone came to the aircraft.
Store said Zelenskyy described a difficult night before the incident. "I asked how the night had gone, and he said it hadn't been a good night, as he had spent it on the phone receiving news about where the missiles had struck. So that's the real reality he's in, and he has to travel around and work to get that support," Store said.
Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg, who was present during a meeting with Zelenskyy, said the Ukrainian president had described problems with his departure.
"He told us about it last night when we had a meeting with him. I don't dare go into the details about it, but he was delayed, and there were some threats against the plane," said Stoltenberg, a former NATO secretary-general.
Sources in the Ukrainian presidency pushed back on the framing that Zelenskyy was in immediate danger.
"It was an alert in Moldova when a Russian drone entered Moldovan and Romanian airspace," the sources told both The Telegraph and Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Moldovan government spokesman Dumitru Ciorici said the country closed its airspace shortly after 4:30 p.m. local time (1:30 p.m. GMT) following a radar detection of a jet-powered Russian drone approaching from Ukraine.
"The airspace was closed to protect aircraft flying over Moldova at the time: three departures and four arrivals were delayed as a result," Ciorici said.
"After 17:20, the authorities confirmed that the drone had come down and exploded ... some 160 kilometers from Chisinau International Airport. Flight restrictions were then lifted. For the same reason, the plane of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took off ... later than scheduled," he noted.
Officials reportedly said two Russian drones entered Moldovan airspace Tuesday, with one landing in a field north of the capital, triggering a fire, while the second continued into Romanian airspace before later re-entering Moldovan territory and crashing in the Rascani district.
Flight-tracking data showed the drone crossed into Moldova at 4:20 p.m. local time and briefly entered Romanian airspace at 4:38 p.m.
Moldova's ambassador to the U.S., Vladislav Kulminski, told CNN the incident was likely "not an accident."
"We do not believe in jet-propelled drones just flying into Moldova's territory for surveillance purposes while (the) Ukrainian president's airplane is on the ground at the airport," Kulminski said, though he added it was "too early to say" whether Zelenskyy's aircraft was the target, noting an investigation was ongoing.
During the ground delay, Zelenskyy reportedly offered to deploy a Ukrainian F-16 to assist Moldovan air defenses in intercepting the drone.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu called the drone intrusions a "serious threat to people's lives" and separately condemned a Russian drone attack on a Ukraine-Moldova border crossing that killed two people the same day.
More than 30 drones have violated Moldovan airspace in 2026, including 17 in August alone, according to Moldovan Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, who wrote on social media that "Russia's inhuman war against Ukraine is putting our citizens at growing risk."
Zelenskyy landed safely in Oslo and went straight into talks with Store, Stoltenberg, and Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide on Norwegian military aid, including air-defense support for Ukraine, and on the European anti-ballistic missile program known as FREYJA.
"We expect to see the first practical results. I am grateful to Norway for hosting this meeting. I thank our partners for their readiness to work together. Protecting Europe's skies is our shared responsibility," Zelenskyy said.
Store said Norwegian and Ukrainian industries were working to determine whether additional air defense systems could be provided to Ukraine, or whether an industrial arrangement could allow Ukraine to produce such systems domestically.
On Wednesday, Zelenskyy joined other foreign heads of state and international royal families marching behind King Harald's coffin during the funeral procession in central Oslo.
The king died Aug. 28 at age 89.
Zelenskyy arrived in Canada late Wednesday for talks with Canadian leadership.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a statement that the visit "will focus on shared priorities between Canada and Ukraine, including deepening defense, economic, and energy cooperation," and will "address the human cost of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine."
Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, are set to attend events in Calgary, Toronto and North Bay, along with a meeting with Cabinet members in Banff, Alberta, with the visit expected to conclude Friday.
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