A plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was targeted by four military-style drones as he arrived in Dublin earlier this week, Irish media has reported.
Irish newspaper the Journal reported, citing unnamed security sources, that the drones breached a no-fly zone established for Zelenskiy’s visit, flew towards the expected route of the president’s aircraft just before it landed. The source explained that had the aircraft touched down on the scheduled time on Monday, the UAVs would have been directly in its path. Citing Irish law enforces, the magazine said the goal may have been to disrupt Zelenskiy’s arrival as the unidentified drones’ lights had been on.
The Journal reported that Ireland’s security agencies assessed the drones as large, costly, military-grade equipment and said the incident could qualify as a hybrid attack.
According to the report, the drones flew within Ireland’s 12-nautical-mile territorial waters. Authorities decided not to shoot them down, and the Irish vessel involved reportedly lacked the capability to disable them
Sources cited by The Journal said the drones were believed to have launched from northeast Dublin and stayed in the air for as long as two hours. Irish police have since opened an investigation.
Authorities in Ireland had announced a temporary no-fly zone during Zelenskiy’s visit but have not confirmed the reported incident involving drones.
Ukraine has reported several assassination attempts on Zelenskiy since the start of Russia’s full-fledged invasion in February 2022. Last year, Ukraine’s Security Service said it foiled an attempt on Zelenskiy and multiple other officials prepared by an alleged FSB-linked network.
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