Europe’s defenceless corner

A file photo of people walking in front of the Moldova-Ukraine border crossing point of Palanca-Maiaki in the village of Palanca, at the border between Moldova and Ukraine. Since the start of the conflict, Moldova has recorded dozens of violations of its airspace, and several Russian missiles and drones have crashed on its territory. — AFP

THE Moldovan border town of Palanca felt the full horror of the war in neighbou­ring Ukraine one December day.

A mother was killed and her three child­ren wounded by a Russian drone as they drove over the border bridge across the river Dniester into this previously quiet corner of southeast Moldova, Ukrainian officials said.