An airplane transporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was almost hit by a drone as it was departing from Moldova for the funeral of Norway’s King Harald V, according to the Norwegian prime minister.
The incident came after the fighting between Russia and Ukraine resumed on Sept. 8 following a three-day pause that allowed U.S. peace envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to hold meetings in both Moscow and Kyiv.
Zelenskyy met with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store on Sept. 8 to discuss strengthening Ukraine’s air defenses and preparations for winter.
Store said Zelenskyy told him about the drone incident during the meeting.
“His flight was almost hit by a drone when it was taking off from Moldova,” Store told Norwegian state-owned broadcaster NRK on Sept. 9. “That is the reality he lives in.”
Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg told NRK that he was also at the Sept. 8 meeting when the Ukrainian president discussed the threats against his airplane during his flight from Moldova to Oslo, Norway’s capital.
“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,” Stoltenberg said.
“But I don’t know enough about the details to explain anything more.”
The Epoch Times reached out to the Office of the President of Ukraine for comment but did not hear back before publication.
The Moldovan Ministry of Defense reported that a Shahed-type drone coming from the direction of Ukraine violated Moldovan airspace on Sept. 8.
The drone was monitored by Moldova’s air surveillance systems before it entered Romanian airspace.
The Romanian Ministry of National Defense said two Spanish Air and Space Force F-18 jets were scrambled to monitor the drone after it entered Romanian airspace on Sept. 8.
The drone later returned to Moldovan airspace before crashing in the area of Mihaileni Vechi in Moldova.
On Sept. 9, Zelenskyy joined other foreign dignitaries at King Harald’s funeral. The Norwegian king died on Aug. 28 at the age of 89 after more than three decades on the throne.
“We paid our respects to King Harald V,” Zelenskyy wrote in a Sept. 9 statement on X. “Ukraine will always be grateful to Norway for all its assistance. This support comes not only from the government, but also from the Royal Family and all the people of Norway.”
Negotiation Effort
Witkoff and Kushner held discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sept. 5 aimed at moving toward a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine as the war has continued for more than four years.
After the meeting, Yuri Ushakov, a Russian presidential aide, told reporters that the two U.S. envoys “outlined a number of ideas regarding possible avenues for a settlement.”
The two U.S. envoys also met with Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Sept. 6.
Zelenskyy confirmed that the diplomats’ visit led to “very substantive” talks.
Witkoff said on Sept. 7 that “substantive progress” was made in the negotiation process during the meetings in Moscow and Kyiv, including the possibility of trilateral talks between the United States, Russia, and Ukraine.
Following the weekend negotiations led by U.S. envoys, Russia targeted Kyiv with drones and missiles in the early hours of Sept. 8.
In a Sept. 8 statement on X, European Union Ambassador to Ukraine Katarina Mathernova said Russia bombed Kyiv “all night” and that the city was “exploding and burning.”
Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sept. 8 that Putin launched “another massive, horrific attack” against Kyiv immediately after Witkoff and Kushner left Ukraine.
“His ballistic missiles speak louder than his words on diplomacy,” Sybiha wrote in a statement on social media.
“Strike after strike on residential buildings brings him no closer to winning this war—it is nothing but senseless terror.”
