During another massive russian terrorist attack on Ukraine on December 25, 2024, it was recorded that one of the Kh-101 missiles flew 140 kilometers in the airspace first over the territory of Moldova and then Romania, and eventually fell in the Chernivtsi region, Ukraine.
If the picture looks more or less clear in relation to Romania - this country is in no hurry to "escalate" given the collective decision of the Alliance, then in the case of Moldova it is worth emphasizing that this country does not have its own air defenses. Therefore, Moldova, in fact, has nothing to shoot down russian cruise missiles and drones, which fly into Moldovan airspace from time to time.
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The lack of Moldova's own air defense is one of the factors for the russian military when planning drone and missile attacks on Ukraine. This takes into account that russian weapons can fly in the airspace of countries neighboring Ukraine and enter Ukrainian airspace from unexpected directions.
The Military Balance 2024 directory claims that the Moldovan armed forces have one anti-aircraft missile regiment, consisting of three S-125 air defense system launchers and is the "core" of the country's ground-based air defense component.
However, the accuracy of this data can be questioned, because in the media you can find information that back in the 2010s Moldova sold all its existing S-125s through offshore structures. Therefore, in fact, it turns out that the Moldovan military currently does not have combat-ready air defense systems at its disposal, although at least until 2020 inclusive, the Moldovan Ministry of Defense demonstrated transport-loading vehicles for the S-125 along with missiles at various events.
To this, we can add public data that only in December 2023 did Moldova receive the first modern radar, purchased from the French Thales, and apparently it was about the Ground Master 200. That is, the Moldovan military has nuances not only with what to shoot down Russian missiles, but even with means of detecting air targets as well.
Along with this, the arsenal of Moldova's army air defense is also insignificant - only 28 ZU-23-2 anti-aircraft installations and 11 S-60 anti-aircraft guns and no MANPADS.
In general, the situation looks paradoxical - although the territory of Moldova is only 33.84 thousand square kilometers, the Moldovan military currently has nothing to cover its sky with, and this problem is unlikely to be solved quickly.
This is exactly what the Kremlin uses with some regularity when it directs its missiles and drones at Ukraine through Moldovan territory.
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