Moldova says a drone threat delayed Zelensky's plane; the Kremlin says the threat was "imaginary"

The flight. Vot Tak reports Moldova's government confirming that Zelensky's departure from Chișinău for Norway on 8 September was delayed by a drone threat. He was travelling with his wife to the funeral of King Harald V.

The near miss. The same report quotes Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, speaking the day before, saying the aircraft was nearly struck by a drone as it prepared to take off. No other report we hold quotes Støre, and none contradicts him.

The denial. TASS and Censor.NET both carry Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov from the same briefing. That is one account, not two.

Report	What it says happened	Attributed to
Vot Tak	The departure was delayed by a drone threat	Moldova's government
Vot Tak	The plane was nearly hit as it prepared to take off	Norway's prime minister
TASS	The threat was "imaginary"; "Kiev's provocations" are watched closely by Russian intelligence	Peskov
Censor.NET	The threat was "ephemeral"; the headline adds "which did not exist"	Peskov

Not settled. Whose drone it was — no report names a sender. Whether one was there at all. We hold no Moldovan statement and no Norwegian one in their own words, only Vot Tak's account of both, and no report carries Peskov's words in full. All three reports we hold run to a paragraph or less.

What this is about. Ukraine's president says nothing himself in these reports. At issue is whether a drone threatened his plane on a runway in Moldova, a small country next to Ukraine that is not part of the war.

How it got here. - Russia has been at war with Ukraine since 2014. That year it annexed Crimea and backed armed separatists in the eastern Donbas region. - In February 2022 Russia launched a full-scale invasion. The war has since been fought largely with drones and missiles as well as on the ground, including long-range strikes deep into Ukraine. - Moldova borders Ukraine to the south-west. Like Ukraine, it was part of the Soviet Union until 1991. Russian troops have been stationed since the early 1990s in Transnistria, a breakaway strip of Moldova along the Ukrainian border. - Since the full-scale invasion, Moldova's government has several times reported drones and missile debris from the war crossing into its territory.

The actors. - Volodymyr Zelensky has been Ukraine's president since 2019. He travels abroad often to hold on to Western support. - Moldova has a pro-European government under President Maia Sandu. It was made a candidate to join the European Union in June 2022, alongside Ukraine. Its airport in Chișinău, the capital, is close to the war. - Norway is a NATO member. Zelensky was flying there for the funeral of King Harald V, who had reigned since 1991. Norway's prime minister is Jonas Gahr Støre. - Dmitry Peskov is the Kremlin's spokesman. He speaks for President Vladimir Putin.

What is at stake. A drone near a head of state's aircraft in a country outside the war would mean the war's air threat had reached a neutral neighbour's main airport. If the threat was real, the next questions are whose drone it was and what it was aimed at. If it was not, a government's account of a security scare is wrong.

Where it stands. Moldova's government has confirmed the delay. The Kremlin denies there was a real threat. No report we hold says whose drone it was, or that anyone has named a sender.

What is being argued about

Whether a drone threat delayed Zelensky's flight out of Chișinău on 8 September
Norway's prime minister saying the aircraft was nearly struck on the runway
Peskov calling the threat imaginary, ephemeral and non-existent
That no report we hold names who sent the drone

One runway, three words for itSide by side

Outlet	What it said	Hedged?
Vot Tak	Moldova's government confirmed the 8 September departure was delayed by a drone threat; Norway's prime minister said the plane was nearly struck preparing to take off	Yes — both attributed inside the sentence, to a government and to a named prime minister
TASS	"Imaginary threat" to the plane; "the Kiev regime's provocations are a matter of heightened attention for Russian intelligence agencies"	Split — the denial is attributed to Peskov in the body; "Kiev's provocations" stands flat in the headline, and "regime" is the report's own word
Censor.NET	The threat to the plane in Chișinău was "ephemeral"; the headline reads "Ephemeral threat, which did not exist"	Split — "ephemeral" is quoted and attributed; "which did not exist" is added by the headline, and "the Russian dictator" is the report's own word

Quotes are from the three reports we hold. A count of what was measured in the text, not a rating of any outlet.

Sources V Vot Tak T TASS C Censor.NET

The aircraft, then the accounts of itTimeline

2026-09-08— no time published Zelensky, Chișinău Departure for Norway delayed by a drone threat, Moldova's government later confirmed. He was travelling with his wife to the funeral of King Harald V.Reported by Vot Tak
2026-09-09— no time published Jonas Gahr Støre, prime minister of Norway Said the Ukrainian president's plane was nearly hit by a drone as it prepared to take off.Dated only as "the day before" by the single report that carries it; no exact date or time is published.
2026-09-1011:02 published time Vot Tak Reports Moldova's government confirming the delay, and quotes Støre on the near miss.
2026-09-1013:02 published time Censor.NET Reports Peskov calling the threat "ephemeral"; the headline adds "which did not exist".
2026-09-1013:25 published time TASS Reports the same Kremlin briefing: an "imaginary threat", and "Kiev's provocations" under close watch.

Times are the times each report carries. Where none is published, the row says so.

Sources V Vot Tak C Censor.NET T TASS

The bias in this coverageBias

Three reports, three words for one drone

One report has Moldova's government confirming the delay; one has the Kremlin calling the threat imaginary; one has it "ephemeral", in quotation marks. All three describe the same aircraft on the same runway. None of the three names whose drone it was.

3 reports we hold on the event 0 reports naming who sent the drone 1 reports carrying a Moldovan or Norwegian source

How the speaker is introduced

Two reports label a party before quoting it: one writes "the Kiev regime", the other "the Russian dictator". Both labels are the report's own words, not a quotation. The third report names governments and officials plainly.

2 reports labelling a party in their own voice 1 reports naming officials without a label

Scored without the mastheads. Where the two passes differ, both are kept.

Sources V Vot Tak T TASS C Censor.NET

Claims and verdicts

disputed Zelensky's flight out of Chișinău on 8 September was delayed by a drone threat.

Vot Tak reports Moldova's government confirming the delay was caused by a drone threat. TASS and Censor.NET both carry Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling the threat "imaginary" and "ephemeral", one that did not exist.

Checked against 3 sources:

V Vot Tak T TASS C Censor.NET

unverified Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said Zelensky's plane was nearly hit by a drone as it prepared to take off.

Only Vot Tak carries this, and it attributes it to Støre speaking the day before. No other report we hold quotes Støre or repeats the near-miss, and none contradicts it.

Checked against 1 source:

V Vot Tak

unverified Peskov said there was no threat to the plane.

TASS and Censor.NET both report the denial, but both are accounts of the same Kremlin briefing, so this is one account and not corroboration. No report we hold carries Peskov's words in full.

Checked against 2 sources:

T TASS C Censor.NET

Who wrote it

С Саша Лукьяненко Vot Tak

What the bias passes found in their reporting

Attribution inside the sentence the only report that sources the delay to a government rather than to a spokesman's denial×1

No actor named passive voice leaves the drone with no sender; the near-miss is attributed to Norway's prime minister×1

What is attributed the delay is attributed to the Moldovan government, in the sentence×1

Whose voice is quoted the damage claim is sourced to a monitoring channel and hedged×1

Claims we checked that rest on their reporting

2 disputed2 unverified

From 78 reports we hold under this byline, at Vot Tak. Two independent readings, each made without the masthead, a quote attached to every tag. A record, never a rating. Their full record →

The bylines on the reports this story is built from. Hover one for what our passes have measured on their reporting. · 2 reports we hold carry no byline — we do not invent one.

Coverage, outlet by outlet

T TASS — state-controlled

'Imaginary threat' to Zelensky’s plane, Kiev's provocations: topics of Kremlin’s briefing

Files the episode under "Kiev's provocations" as a flat topic in its headline, adds that Russian intelligence is paying heightened attention, and calls Ukraine's government "the Kiev regime" in its own voice.

MOSCOW, September 10. /TASS/. The "imaginary threat" posed by a drone to Vladimir Zelensky’s plane at the Chisinau airport, Ukrainian provocations, and strikes on ships in the Black Sea were the main topics of Thursday’s briefing by Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov. TASS has compiled the Russian presidential press secretary’s key statements. - The Ukrainians "have tried, are trying, and, by all appearances, will continue to try to stage provocations" in order to "draw their Western backers deeper and more closely into the war." - The Kiev regime’s provocations are a matter of heightened attenti

Naming of a party: calls Ukraine's government "the Kiev regime" in its own voice, and spells the capital Kiev — “The Kiev regime’s provocations are a matter of heightened attention for Russian intelligence agencies, Dmitry Peskov said”

Headline against body: headline carries "provocations" flat as a topic; the body attributes it to one spokesman — “'Imaginary threat' to Zelensky’s plane, Kiev's provocations: topics of Kremlin’s briefing”

Headline asserts what the body attributes: the headline states "Kiev's provocations" flat and puts the threat in scare quotes; the body carries both as one spokesman's words — “'Imaginary threat' to Zelensky’s plane, Kiev's provocations: topics of Kremlin’s briefing”

Word chosen for the other side's government: calls Ukraine's government a regime in the report's own voice, while its own state's agencies are named plainly — “The Kiev regime’s provocations are a matter of heightened attention for Russian intelligence agencies, Dmitry Peskov said”

Read it at TASS → https://tass.com/politics/2185611

C Censor.NET —

Пєсков про інцидент із літаком Зеленського у Молдові: Ефемерна загроза, якої не існувало

Keeps the denial inside quotation marks — "ephemeral" — but its headline extends it to "which did not exist", and it calls Russia's president a dictator in its own voice.

Речник російського диктатора Дмитро Пєсков заявив, що загроза літаку президента Володимира Зеленського у Кишиневі була "ефемерною".

Characterisation of a source: introduces the spokesman by a judgement of his employer before quoting him — “Речник російського диктатора Дмитро Пєсков заявив”

How hard the claim is stated: the denial is kept inside quotation marks and attributed — “загроза літаку президента Володимира Зеленського у Кишиневі була "ефемерною"”

Characterisation in the report's own voice: labels Russia's president a dictator before quoting his spokesman, in the report's own words, not a quotation — “Речник російського диктатора Дмитро Пєсков заявив”

Headline extends the quoted words: the spokesman is quoted saying only that the threat was "ephemeral"; the headline adds "which did not exist" inside the same quoted line — “Пєсков про інцидент із літаком Зеленського у Молдові: Ефемерна загроза, якої не існувало”

Read it at Censor.NET → https://censor.net/ua/news/4022781/pyeskov-zaperechyv-zagrozu-litaku-ze…

V Vot Tak —

В Молдове подтвердили задержку вылета Зеленского в Норвегию из-за угрозы БПЛА

The only report that sources the delay to a government rather than to a denial, and the only one carrying Norway's prime minister saying the plane was nearly hit on the runway.

Правительство Молдовы подтвердило, что 8 сентября вылет президента Украины Владимира Зеленского в Норвегию задержался из-за угрозы БПЛА. Зеленский вместе с супругой направлялся на церемонию прощания с королем Харальдом V. Накануне премьер-министр Норвегии Йонас Гар Стёре заявил, что самолет украинского президента едва не был поражен беспилотником при подготовке к взлету.

What is attributed: the delay is attributed to the Moldovan government, in the sentence — “Правительство Молдовы подтвердило, что 8 сентября вылет президента Украины Владимира Зеленского в Норвегию задержался из-за угрозы БПЛА.”

Whose voice is quoted: the near miss is carried as Norway's prime minister's account, not as fact — “Накануне премьер-министр Норвегии Йонас Гар Стёре заявил, что самолет украинского президента едва не был поражен беспилотником при подготовке к взлету.”

Attribution inside the sentence: the only report that sources the delay to a government rather than to a spokesman's denial — “Правительство Молдовы подтвердило, что 8 сентября вылет президента Украины Владимира Зеленского в Норвегию задержался из-за угрозы БПЛА.”

No actor named: passive voice leaves the drone with no sender; the near-miss is attributed to Norway's prime minister — “самолет украинского президента едва не был поражен беспилотником при подготовке к взлету”

Read it at Vot Tak → https://vot-tak.tv/95320013/zelenskiy-bpla-i-zaderzhka-vyleta-v-norvegi…

Checked, didn’t cover

M Meduza R RIA Novosti T The Moscow Times S Suspilne U Ukrainska Pravda I Interfax U Ukrinform M Mediazona N Novaya Gazeta Europe

Silence is recorded, not inferred — each of these was read when we built this story and carried nothing on this event.

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