Moldovan Ambassador to Moscow Lilian Darii was summoned on Tuesday to lodge a protest following Chisinau’s decision to declare a Russian embassy employee persona non grata.

Axar.az reports, citing Russian media, that the Russian Foreign Ministry made the announcement.

"On November 10, Moldovan Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Russia Lilian Darii was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry," the ministry said. "A strong protest was lodged with the ambassador after the Moldovan authorities on October 23 declared an employee of the Russian embassy in Chisinau persona non grata, under the formal pretext of the alleged discovery on the territory of the republic of debris of an unmanned aerial vehicle carrying explosives."

"A Russian Foreign Ministry note was handed over to the Moldovan ambassador notifying that based on the principle of reciprocity, the Russian side declared a Moldovan embassy employee persona non grata," it said.

The ministry emphasized that the lack of evidence of the drone’s Russian origin "indicates the baseless nature of the above-mentioned decision, which has become yet another unfriendly move by Moldova." "Its true goal is to further undermine the centuries-long history of Russian-Moldovan relations and to create the most unfavorable conditions possible for the work of Russian diplomatic missions in Chisinau," it added.