Five Russian drones, including unmanned weapons of the “Banderol” type, crashed in Moldova on the morning of October 3, the Institute for the Study of War listed.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu announced that five Russian “air weapons”, including unmanned weapons of the “Banderol” type, violated Moldovan airspace and crashed in the country.
In recent months, Russian drones and drone debris have increasingly violated Moldovan airspace, with between February 2022 and July 2026 at least 20 violations, and seven since August 2026 alone.
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The [Russian] aggressor intends to continue to strike Ukraine’s civilian and critical infrastructure, especially in major cities, with the aim of provoking a political crisis in Kiev in the winter of 2026-2027 and undermining Ukraine’s ability to sustain its successes on the battlefield.
Sergei “Flash”, Ukrainian presidential adviser on defense technologies Beskrestnov reported on October 3 that Russian forces used one or more mesh network repeaters, which provide a temporary local connection through which Russian drone operators can adjust the trajectory of drones during strikes on bridges in the city of Kiev.
Russian drones kill two civilians at a border crossing between Ukraine and Moldova.
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In a separate report, The Kyiv Independent says that drones invaded Moldova’s airspace three separate times on Sept. 30, as Russia launched a day-long attack against Ukraine overnight and into the following afternoon.
… On Sept. 24, suspected Russian drones crashed in Romania and Moldova overnight, amid a sustained mass drone and missile attack on Ukraine.
On Aug. 16, NATO fighter jets shot down a suspected Russian drone that violated Romanian airspace near the Moldovan border, Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruta confirmed.
A day later, on Aug. 17, a Russian S-8000 Banderol cruise missile entered Moldovan airspace during a Russian attack on Odesa, before crashing in a cornfield approximately 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) outside of the village of Talmaz, in the Stefan Voda district of Moldova …