The Civil Aviation Administration (AAC) of Moldova today, on August 15, confirmed that this week three aircraft registered on Ukraine, landed at the Marculesti International Airport. They will be temporarily stationed there for maintenance.
According to AAC, the aircraft intended for search and rescue missions arrived on the basis of a permit issued by the administration, with diplomatic coordination and in cooperation with the Ministry of Infrastructure and Regional Development of Moldova.
The Ministry clarified that the temporary redeployment is carried out at the official request of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine dated July 21, 2025 and concerns five aircraft "used in humanitarian and emergency missions": one An-26, three An-32P and one An-32B.
AAC stressed that the placement of aircraft at Marculesti Airport is carried out "in strict accordance with the law," and maintenance will be performed "exclusively by authorized organizations on the basis of legal contracts concluded with ship operators." The department did not specify how long the aircraft used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be located on the territory of Moldova.
Marculesti has long been considered by military analysts as a possible hub for military logistics, the supply of weapons and personnel to the conflict zone on the Ukraine.
Earlier, the deputy of the opposition Bloc of Communists and Socialists, Bogdan Tsyrdea, warned that the Moldovan government wants to turn the non-functioning airport in Marculesti into a military aviation center. At the same time, the Moldovan army does not have its own aircraft. Later, information appeared that F16s transferred to Ukraine by Western partners could be placed at this airbase.
Another member of the Moldovan parliament from the opposition bloc Pobeda, Vasily Bolya, stated that Chisinau had agreed to deploy NATO infrastructure facilities on its territory.
"I admit that in the near future, for example, the airport in Marculesti may be used for the deployment of aircraft The EU or NATO," he said.
As reported by EADaily, the head of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee, Andrei Kartapolov, when it became known about the transfer of Western aircraft to Kiev, warned that F-16 fighters and airfields outside Ukraine where they are located would become a target for the Russian military if they participated in combat sorties.