The incomprehensible story of a Russian missile over a NATO member country

Volodymyr Zelenskiy added fuel to the fire with statements from Brussels, where he claimed that Russia was encroaching on the integrity of Moldova, while a Ukrainian official said that Russian missiles that hit Ukraine had previously violated the airspace of Romania, a NATO member, and Moldova, which received candidate status EU.

Today, a day after the President of Ukraine and the Prime Minister of Moldova declared that Russia’s goal was to destabilize Moldova, its government collapsed under the pressure of both the war in Ukraine and the economic crisis.

What Zelensky said

On Thursday afternoon, speaking at a summit of European Union leaders, the Ukrainian president said that Kyiv had intercepted Russian intelligence plans aimed at destroying Moldova. “We intercepted the plan to destroy Moldova by the Russian special services,” Volodymyr Zelensky said, arguing that the documents show “who, when and how” within the framework of the plan “will dismantle the democracy of Moldova and establish Russian control over the country.” Volodymyr Zelensky also said that this plan is very similar to the one that Russia is implementing to occupy Ukraine. However, he said he did not know if Moscow had ordered the implementation of this plan.

Commenting on the words of the Ukrainian president, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refuted information that Moscow has a plan to destabilize Moldova, stressing: “We don’t even know what Vladimir Zelensky is talking about.”

Following Vladimir Zelensky, the Moldovan intelligence services announced that “based on the information provided by our Ukrainian partner and internal evidence, we confirm that we have identified activities aimed at weakening and destabilizing Moldova.” They added that they could not provide further information at this time “because of the risk of jeopardizing the measures being taken to investigate what happened.”

And Prime Minister Maia Sandu, a few hours before her resignation, said that the Moldovan services “are working to ensure the security of the country and use all the information of our partners to prevent and suppress such attempts.” Moldova, a small country of 2.6 million people bordering Ukraine, is under military threat from Russia because Russian soldiers are stationed on its soil in the pro-Russian separatist region of Transnistria.

Moldova confirms, Romania denies

Regarding the passage of Russian missiles through its airspace, Moldova said that one Russian missile crossed it on Friday morning. “Responsible structures discovered the rocket at 10:18, it crossed the airspace of Moldova over the settlement of Mokra in Transnistria, and then over the settlement of Coseuci, Soroca region, towards Ukraine. The Ministry of Defense is closely monitoring the situation in the region and strongly condemns the violation of the airspace of Moldova,” the newspaper quoted the statement as saying. NewsMaker.

The commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian armed forces said that Russian missiles crossed the airspace of Romania and Moldova before entering Ukraine on Friday morning.

“At 10.18, the missile crossed the airspace of the Republic of Moldova over the settlement of Mokra in the Transnistrian region, and then over the settlement of Kosauti in the Soroca region, heading towards Ukraine,” the Ministry of Defense of Moldova said. “Together with the relevant authorities of the country, the agency is closely monitoring the situation in region and strongly condemns the violation of the airspace of the Republic of Moldova”. The statement did not specify whether the missile that passed through Moldovan airspace was Russian, but the Russian ambassador to that country was called in for an explanation.

In turn, the government of Romania, a NATO member country, did not confirm the passage of a Russian missile over the territory of the country. “Information about a Russian missile flying over Romanian airspace has not been confirmed,” the newspaper writes. G4Media with reference to the representative of the Romanian department. Instead, surveillance systems reportedly picked up what looked like a cruise missile fired from a Russian ship near Crimea, but it did not cross Romanian airspace. The missile, according to the ministry, was launched from a Russian base in the Black Sea, but passed within 35 kilometers of the border with Romania, flying over the airspace of the Republic of Moldova.

Putin’s speech in parliament

Meanwhile, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that on February 21, three days before the anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which in the Russian Federation is called SVO, he will deliver a speech in the Russian parliament. “On February 21, the President of the Russian Federation will address the Federal Assembly” (which consists of the State Duma – the lower house of parliament and the Federation Council – the upper house of parliament), Peskov told reporters, adding that the speech will focus on the “current situation”, including the Russian military intervention in Ukraine and the socio-economic situation in Russia.

Peskov said the speech would be held at Gostiny Dvor, a conference hall near Red Square in central Moscow, and Russian military personnel operating in Ukraine would “definitely” be invited to speak.

Traditionally, every year Vladimir Putin addresses the Russian deputies with a message “On the State of the Country”, in which he sums up the results of the past year and outlines new strategic directions. In 2022, the performance was canceled due to the attack of the Russian army on Ukraine. When asked whether foreign journalists would be accredited in the hall where the Russian president would make a speech, the Kremlin spokesman replied: “At the moment there is no such decision, we will let you know.”

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