Cernița Gerbera drone, Moldova, 24 Sep 2026

A drone crashed and exploded on farmland near Cernița, in Moldova's Florești District, during a wave of border crossings on the morning of September 24, 2026. Police say forensic examiners have identified it as a Russian Gerbera-type device fitted with an onboard camera, the first such drone found in the country. Moldova's Air Operations Service recorded four separate unauthorized overflights of national airspace between 05:21 and 07:11 local time that morning, part of a mass Russian missile and drone strike on Ukraine overnight. No injuries were reported. AirVeto's wind-model data for the event window shows a strong flow from the northwest over Florești District.

Moldovan police said the object crossed into national airspace at 06:35 local time, entering from Pridnestreanske in Ukraine's Vinnytsia region toward Volovița, in Soroca District. Ten minutes later, residents saw it moving into Florești District, toward Gura Camencii. Around 07:45, police said, an explosion was reported near Vadul Rașcov in neighboring Șoldănești District, preliminarily traced to the Camenca area on the left bank of the Dniester. Police separately received a call about another explosion near Cernița, where officers found the drone in a field beside a farm. Technical and explosives specialists said the wreckage had struck a tree before falling and detonating, and identified it as consistent with the Gerbera model, a low-cost Russian decoy and reconnaissance drone.

Police say the onboard camera is a first for Moldova

Moldova's technical and explosives unit said the Cernița drone was the first device of its kind found on Moldovan territory equipped with a built-in camera. That distinguishes it from the simpler Gerbera decoys previously identified elsewhere in the region. Investigators were continuing forensic work to confirm the exact model and manufacturer.

Moldova's president called it part of a wider pattern

President Maia Sandu responded to the overflights, saying four Russian drones had violated Moldova's airspace that morning and that at least one had exploded in the north of the country. Four of the other five Moldova drone events AirVeto has reconstructed since July - near Kopanka, Palanca, Tudora and Colonița - lie south of Florești District, closer to the Ukrainian border facing Odesa or to Chișinău. The fifth, the Zelenskyy-drone-delay incident, crossed near Mihăileni Vechi in Rîșcani District, in Moldova's north - the closest prior incident in AirVeto's archive, 64 km west of Cernița.

Romania responded the same night

The same overnight strike wave sent a drone across the border into Romania's Suceava County, where it crashed near Solca, a related event AirVeto has reconstructed separately. Romania also scrambled fighter jets that night, though it reported no incursion beyond the confirmed Solca crash.

Wind conditions over Florești District

At 07:00 local time on September 24, close to the explosion report, the wind at 1,000 m blew from the NW at 50 km/h. At 2,000 m it came from the NW at 57 km/h. At 3,000 m it also came from the NW, at 52 km/h, a strong and consistent flow through the layers over Florești District that morning.

This reconstruction is based on reporting by European Pravda and Jurnal.md, and on AirVeto's wind-model data for the 03:35-04:50 UTC window on September 24, 2026. How the model is built and where it is reliable is on the methodology page. A full archive of drone and airspace incidents across the EU's eastern border is at the incident archive.