A drone with a 52,4 kg warhead fell near a house, but Zakharova accuses Chisinau and threatens a "harsh response" after the expulsion of a Russian diplomat

Moscow is threatening the Republic of Moldova with a "harsh response" after the decision to expel a Russian diplomat, taken following the crash of a drone in the Telenesti district. The spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, claims that the Moldovan Foreign Ministry has not presented evidence of the Russian origin of the unmanned aerial vehicle. The authorities in Chisinau identified the drone as a Gheran-4 type, a model used by the Russian army. The device was equipped with a 52,4-kilogram thermobaric warhead.

In a reaction published on Saturday, October 24, by the Russian agency TASS, Maria Zakharova described as unjustified Chisinau's decision to declare persona non grata an employee of the Embassy of the Russian Federation. She claimed that the Moldovan authorities used the drone incident as a pretext to deteriorate relations with Moscow.

"This decision of the Moldovan authorities is part of the destructive anti-Russian course of official Chisinau, aimed at completely destroying centuries-old Russian-Moldovan relations and severing ties between the peoples of the two countries," Zakharova said, according to TASS.

The representative of the Russian diplomacy claimed that the incident of October 23, when a drone fell on the territory of the Republic of Moldova, was used without basis to justify the expulsion of the diplomat.

"These hostile actions by the leadership of the Republic of Moldova will not remain without an adequate and tough response from Russia," warned the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Zakharova also accused the Moldovan authorities of expelling Russian diplomats in recent years under fabricated pretexts, with the aim of hindering the embassy's activities and citizens' access to consular services. The official did not specify what concrete measures Moscow would adopt against the Republic of Moldova.

According to the Ministry of Defense, 65 violations of national airspace have been recorded since the beginning of 2026, 17 of which were in October alone. The total number of incidents recorded since 2022 has reached 102.

In the case of October 23, the aircraft was detected at 13:59 p.m. after it entered Moldovan airspace from the direction of Vinnitsa region, Ukraine. The drone was tracked by monitoring systems and subsequently disappeared from radar near Rezina district, after which it was discovered on the ground in Telenesti district.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chisinau condemned the violation of airspace and announced that an employee of the Embassy of the Russian Federation would be declared persona non grata, describing the incident as a direct threat to the safety of citizens.