“It does not have its own air defense system. Moldova has nothing to shoot down Russian missiles and drones that fly into its territory — Defense-Express December 26, 15:03 Share: Soviet S-125 air defense system (Photo: Air Force of the ZSU / Facebook) Moldova actually does not have its own air defense, so it has nothing shoot down Russian missiles and drones that fly into its airspace during Russian attacks on Ukraine, the portal writes Defense-Express.”, — write on: ua.news
Soviet S-125 air defense system (Photo: Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine / Facebook)
Moldova actually does not have its own air defense, so it has nothing to shoot down Russian missiles and drones that fly into its airspace during Russian attacks on Ukraine, the Defense-Express portal writes.
Analysts recalled that during the shelling on December 25, one of the Kh-101 missiles flew 140 kilometers in the airspace of Moldova, then Romania, and then returned to the west of Ukraine.
In this case, Romania is in no hurry to shoot down the targets, given its membership in NATO. While Moldova simply does not have its own air defense system, the material indicates. Experts believe that this factor is taken into account by the Russians when planning drone and missile attacks on Ukraine.
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The Military Balance 2024 states that Moldova has one anti-aircraft missile regiment consisting of three S-125 anti-aircraft missile launchers. However, Defense-Express doubts the accuracy of these data, since, according to the media, in the 2010s, Moldova sold all S-125s through offshore structures.
Therefore, analysts assume that the Moldovan military does not have combat-ready air defense systems. In addition, the country has almost no systems for detecting air targets. Only in 2023, Moldova received the first modern radar, purchased from the French company Thales, probably Ground Master 200.
If we talk about the data on the military air defense of Moldova, then it records the presence of only 28 ZU-23−2 installations and 11 S-60 guns, without any MANPADS.
As for aviation, the country has two An-2, six Mi-8 and one training Yak-18.
Analysts believe that the problem with Moldova’s air defense system is unlikely to be solved quickly. Therefore, the Kremlin regularly uses these loopholes, launching missiles and drones across Ukraine through Moldovan territory.
During Russia’s massive attack on Ukraine on the night of December 25, one of the missiles flew in the direction of Chernivtsi from the airspace of Moldova. Monitoring channels wrote that this missile flew 140 kilometers through the territories of Moldova and Romania.
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The President of Moldova, Maia Sandu, confirmed the information, condemning Russia’s violation of the airspace.
At the same time, the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense of Romania, Constantin Spinu, said that the Romanian air surveillance system “did not detect” missiles.