Russian Merlin-VR surveillance drone recovered in rural area

On or around 20 December 2025, an unmanned aerial vehicle was found in an open field in the Salur neighbourhood of the Manyas district in Balıkesir province, in western Türkiye near the Aegean coast. According to reporting by TRT World, local farmers came across the aircraft and alerted the authorities; gendarmerie units then secured the device and transported it to Ankara for a detailed technical inspection. The drone was recovered largely intact, reportedly after coming down under its onboard parachute, which TRT World noted was likely the result of electronic jamming of its control systems by Turkish air defences.

The aircraft was assessed as a Merlin-VR, a reconnaissance UAV. Reporting attributes the type to Russia: United24 Media described it as developed by the Smolensk Scientific Research Institute of Modern Telecommunication Technologies and used by Russian forces for aerial surveillance, including over the Black Sea region. The platform is described as a long-range, low-noise system able to remain airborne for up to ten hours, reach altitudes of around 5 km, and carry an optical-electronic payload of roughly 6.5 kg.

TRT World reported that the recovery formed part of a wider cluster of drone discoveries in Türkiye within a short period, alongside the reported recovery of an Orlan-10 UAV in Kocaeli province. Turkish defence officials confirmed the identification of the Merlin-VR but could not identify other drones neutralised in the same period because of the extent of their destruction. No official Turkish attribution to a deliberate Russian operation has been confirmed, and analysts have raised competing explanations, including accidental malfunction, a possible false-flag operation, and intentional Russian signalling.

The recovery of a Merlin-VR adds to a reported sequence of Russian-developed reconnaissance drones surfacing on or near Turkish territory in December 2025. While the airframe is attributed to Russia in reporting, Turkish authorities have not publicly confirmed that it was a deliberate intrusion, and analysts have floated malfunction, false-flag and signalling scenarios. The intact recovery offers Türkiye a useful technical-exploitation opportunity. State responsibility for any deliberate incursion should be treated as suspected rather than established pending official confirmation.