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Moldovan police deployed bomb disposal experts to a community near the Ukrainian border after a resident mistakenly took a grounded drone home, believing it to be a toy.
The incident unfolded in Pepeni, Singerei district, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) north of the capital, Chisinau.
Officers discovered the drone, found four days prior, had already been stripped of its components.
While police confirmed the device contained no explosives and posed no immediate danger, they issued a warning, urging the public “not to touch or attempt to transport fallen drones or similar objects”.
Authorities did not specify the drone’s origin but identified it as a Gerbera-type, commonly employed for improvised attacks or observation, and known to be used by Russia in Ukraine.
Police had been tipped off by the mayor of Pepeni.
The drone that was mistaken for a toy (Moldova Police)
Video footage later posted by the city hall on social media depicted the drone on a trailer, attached to a small tractor typical of rural settlements.
“A citizen thought it was a toy … and brought it into the locality of Pepeni,” Mayor Oleg Cernei said in the video.
“As soon as it appeared within the boundaries of the commune, I identified the person and informed the state institutions.”
The commune of Pepeni comprises four villages: Pepeni, Pepenii Noi, Răzălăi and Romanovca.
The incident is the latest in a string of airspace breaches and drone discoveries on Moldovan territory since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Last week, Moldova’s airspace was breached multiple times by unmanned aerial vehicles during Russian attacks on Ukraine. A drone was found perched on the roof of a house in a village in Floresti district.
The Russian ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry over those incidents.
Russia has also been accused of interfering in Moldovan elections in both 2024 and 2025.