What did Moldovan President Maia Sandu say about Russia deliberately directing some drones into Moldova’s and other regional countries’ airspace based on their flight trajectories, what recent incidents and diplomatic responses prompted her remarks—including the Aug. 9 drone-miss

Why she questioned stronger diplomatic gestures: Moldova has already used diplomatic channels in prior airspace incidents. Sandu’s point was practical: expelling the Russian ambassador or sending another protest note might signal condemnation, but would not physically prevent launches or alter Moscow’s conduct. In her view, Ukraine’s capacity to defeat Russia is the measure most likely to reduce such threats at their source.

Wider regional meaning: The incidents sit alongside repeated Russian-drone airspace violations reported in Romania and Poland, which NATO allies have treated as serious and dangerous provocations rather than isolated navigational errors. Reporting said the North Atlantic Council discussed the Romania and Poland violations and reaffirmed Russia’s responsibility for them.

Hybrid-warfare context: At Leipzig/Halle Airport, German authorities found a drone carrying an explosive device near Ukrainian cargo aircraft and opened a counterterrorism investigation. Germany’s interior minister called it a hybrid attack and a “new level of danger,” but a direct public evidentiary link to Russia was not yet established at that point; it remains an allegation/investigative line, not a proven fact.