Context: Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moldova has recorded over 60 incidents of drones and missiles entering its airspace. The remains of 25 drones and nine missiles have been found. The country’s Ministry of Defense has stated that such incidents are becoming increasingly frequent. On August 27, 2026, Moldova’s Independence Day, five drones entered Moldovan airspace following Russian airstrikes on Ukraine. Before that, on August 9 and 17, drones exploded in a field and a forest, respectively. No one was injured.
On August 20, 2026, Latvian vlogger Solomon Bernstein, who moved to Belarus, appeared as a guest on the CheZa? podcast on the First News Channel. He discussed what Moldova had lost since the days of the Soviet Union, such as its canning industry.
“Just so you know, that’s where they built the first computer in the Soviet Union. Do you think they have a microelectronics industry there?” Bernstein asked host Aleksandr Khorovets.
Belarusian state media circulated another version of this story, claiming the first computer in the Soviet Union was allegedly created in the Byelorussian SSR. We’ve already explained why this isn’t true.
The first Soviet computers emerged in the early 1950s. Scientists Sergey Lebedev (Sergiy Lebediev) in Kyiv and Isaak Bruk in Moscow developed them almost simultaneously and independently of one another. The Șciotmaș enterprise did not yet exist in the Moldavian SSR at that time. It was founded in Chișinău in the early 1960s, when it indeed began developing computers. Therefore, the computers developed there could not have been the first in the Soviet Union.
The Chișinău-based company made history with its Vector-06C personal gaming computer. Its advanced graphics and sound made it a highly sought-after item for its time. However, the Vector-06C didn’t come out until 1987, and even then it wasn’t the first Soviet home computer.
* The First News Channel is another name for News.by, a news outlet owned by Belteleradiocompany.
