On Tuesday, September 8, a drone identified by the National Army as a Shahed-type aircraft traversed the airspace of the Republic of Moldova, passing over two localities in the Ungheni district — Cetireni and Zagarancea — and exited toward Romania, where authorities scrambled two fighter jets and issued alerts in five counties. The drone subsequently crashed in the Rîșcani district after turning back from the direction of Iași.
The trajectory through Moldova: 17 minutes, from Ukraine to Romania
The National Army detected the unmanned aerial vehicle at 16.20, coming from the direction of Ukraine. According to the Ministry of Defense communiqué, the drone entered national airspace near the locality of Slavianorebca (Ukraine), heading toward Bender through the Transnistrian sector.
At 16.32, the drone was heading toward the municipality of Chișinău. Four minutes later, at 16.36, it was located near the village of Bălănești, Nisporeni district, continuing its trajectory toward Cetireni, Ungheni district.
At 16.37, the drone left the airspace of the Republic of Moldova near the village of Zagarancea, Ungheni district, heading toward Golăiești, Iași county, Romania. From the moment of detection to the exit from the country, 17 minutes had elapsed.
Airspace in the central zone of the country was temporarily restricted starting at 16.30 — that is, before the drone reached the Ungheni district. The restriction was lifted after the aircraft left national territory.
Romania’s response: alerts in five counties, NATO jets scrambled
Romania’s Ministry of National Defense stated that its radar surveillance system detected the aerial target at 16.33, west of Chișinău, moving westward. At the same time, the first RO-Alert notifications were initiated in Iași county and northern Vaslui county.
The drone entered Romanian airspace at 16.37, approximately 30 kilometers southeast of Iași. Two F-18 aircraft of the Spanish Air and Space Forces, stationed at the 57th Mihail Kogălniceanu Air Base for the Enhanced Air Policing mission, took off at 16.39
Alerts were successively extended: Neamț (16.44), Suceava (16.53), Botoșani (16.56). At 16.48, the drone was reported 18 kilometers north of the town of Roman. Iași airport temporarily suspended all flights.
According to Moldova’s Civil Aviation Authority, the airspace restriction affected seven civilian aircraft: three already in flight were held for approximately 15 minutes in Romanian airspace, three remained grounded at Chișinău Airport, and one civilian aircraft landed in Iași at the captain’s decision.
The return and crash
At 17.02, radar contact with the drone was lost near the border between Iași and Botoșani counties. Six minutes later, at 17.08, the target was re-identified in the airspace of the Republic of Moldova — the drone had turned back from the direction of Iași.
The air alert state ended in all five Romanian counties at 17.33
At 18.30, Romanian authorities were informed that the drone had crashed near the village of Mihăileni Vechi, Rîșcani district, approximately 25 kilometers east of Romania’s border, opposite Botoșani county. According to the General Police Inspectorate, the impact caused four fire outbreaks in a sunflower field. No one was injured. Police announced the dispatch of specialized teams to document the case and asked residents to avoid the area and not touch any fragments.
Model identification is to be carried out by experts after examining the wreckage. The National Army identified the aircraft as “Shahed-type” in its initial communiqué; final confirmation depends on fragment analysis.
The Ungheni angle
Cetireni and Zagarancea, the Ungheni district localities that the drone flew over, are 5–12 kilometers from the town of Ungheni, in the direction of Iași. Based on available data, this is the first drone overflight incident through the Ungheni district since the start of the war in Ukraine; in the more than 60 previous incidents, affected districts were concentrated in the south, north, and center-east.
Romania alerted the population of five counties through RO-Alert messages: “There is a possibility of objects falling from the airspace. Take shelter in basements or civil protection shelters.” Moldova does not yet have an operational population alert system: the MD-ALERT system was approved on March 18, 2026, but will not be operational until the end of 2027. On September 8, residents of Chișinău, Nisporeni, and Ungheni received no civil alert.
Neither the Ungheni municipality administration nor the District Council published any communications regarding the incident by the time of this article’s publication. Zagarancea, the last Moldovan locality the drone flew over, is located just a few kilometers from the Romanian border.
Context
The incident occurred during the multinational exercise “Fire Shield 2026” (Scutul de Foc 2026), conducted by the National Army from September 4 to 19. There is no public information indicating a connection between the exercise and the drone’s trajectory; the exercise had been announced by the Ministry of Defense before the incident.
The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Moldova stated that national authorities, together with partners, continue to monitor the airspace. Romania’s Ministry of National Defense also announced that the situation remains under observation.