Debris from a Russian missile that was shot down landed outside Ukraine, officials say, in a rare instance of fighting spilling over the country's borders

• Russian forces launched a fresh barrage of missile strikes on Ukraine on Monday morning.
• Debris from one missile that was shot down landed in a small village in northern Moldova.

Parts of a Russian missile shot down by Ukrainian air defense systems landed in a small village in northern Moldova, officials said on Monday. The incident was a rare moment that saw fighting spill over Ukraine's borders into a neighboring country.

Nicu Popescu, Moldova's minister of foreign affairs and European integration, said a part of the missile landed in the village of Naslavcea, which sits just below Moldova's northern border with southern Ukraine. There were no casualties, he noted, but a shock wave shattered windows of multiple residential homes.

Popescu said the Russian strikes were targeting a nearby dam, adding that attacks on Ukraine's water infrastructure could risk flooding the general region.

"Moldova condemns in strongest possible terms Russia's continued aggression against Ukraine," Popescu said. "The appalling strikes on critical infrastructure reverberate beyond Ukraine's borders and pose a direct threat to Moldova's energy — and human — security."

Mihail Popșoi, a Moldovan lawmaker, said a Russian diplomat was expelled from the country after the missile debris landed in Naslavcea and tweeted a photo of what appeared to be a plume of smoke after the attack. The diplomat's identify was not published, and Insider was unable to immediately verify the image.

Naslavcea is a village of only 782 people, according to 2014 census data, and is located in the northernmost part of Moldova.

The latest incident involving missile debris landing in Moldova was an uncommon occurrence, but it is not the first time the war has extended beyond Russia and Ukraine. Earlier in October, Popescu said Russian cruise missiles fired from the Black Sea crossed Moldova's airspace, prompting him to call in Russia's ambassador for questioning.

And fears that the war could spread are not new to Moldova either. During the spring, for instance, tensions began to rise over concerns about Russia's intentions in the Moscow-backed separatist region of Transnistria — a sliver of land in eastern Moldova that borders Ukraine.

Monday's incident came as Russian forces fired a barrage of cruise missiles targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine. Kyiv's air force said it managed to down 44 of the more than 50 missiles that were launched, but some of them were able to make it through Ukraine's defenses.

According to a United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs report, the missiles that struck Ukraine on Monday disrupted the country's water and energy supply — causing power outages in 10 of the country's 24 regions. The UN said the attacks occurred as people were commuting to work. The extent of any civilian casualties was not immediately clear.

"In times of war, civilian infrastructure is protected under international humanitarian law. With the harsh winter in Ukraine approaching, it is particularly important to preserve energy and water supplies, which are also necessary to run the heating systems in most of the country," the UN said in its report.

For weeks now, Russian President Vladimir Putin has used missiles and explosive suicide drones to target Ukraine's civil infrastructure in locations far from the front lines, where his military is continuing to suffer setbacks on the battlefield.