Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store has said a plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was almost struck by a drone as it departed Moldova for Oslo on Tuesday.

Zelenskyy had traveled to Norway's capital to attend the funeral of King Harald V. His country has been fighting a Russian invasion since February 2022.

"His flight was almost hit by a drone when it was taking off from Moldova," Store told Norwegian public broadcaster NRK on Wednesday. "That is the reality he lives in."

Store did not disclose the source of the information or how close the drone came to the aircraft.

A Moldovan government spokesperson later confirmed the incident, stating it occurred on Tuesday before takeoff and involved a Russian drone. Authorities closed Moldovan airspace following a drone alert, delaying the departure. Zelenskyy's aircraft was cleared to take off once it had been established that the drone had come down on Moldovan territory.

While in Oslo, Zelenskyy held talks with Store. The two leaders also met with defence industry executives to discuss advancing a European anti-ballistic missile system codenamed FREYJA. Zelenskyy said the meeting focused on dividing responsibilities between governments and defence companies and agreeing on steps needed to produce the first practical results from the programme.

"We expect to see the first practical results. I am grateful to Norway for hosting this meeting. I thank our partners for their readiness to work together. Protecting Europe's skies is our shared responsibility," the Ukrainian president said.

Separately, Ukrainian regional officials reported that at least eight people were killed in Russian attacks on Wednesday, including along the Ukraine-Moldova border and in the southeast of the country.