Media: Four military drones breach no-fly zone during Zelenskyy’s Dublin arrival

Four unidentified military-style drones breached a no-fly zone near Dublin late on Monday night, flying directly into the expected flight path of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s aircraft just moments after it landed slightly ahead of schedule.

The incident occurred at around 11 pm in the Irish Sea, where the drones reached the exact location Zelenskyy’s plane was due to pass. They then circled above the LÉ William Butler Yeats, an Irish Navy vessel covertly deployed to secure the president’s arrival, The Journal reports.

Security sources say the drones took off from the north-east of Dublin, possibly near Howth, and stayed airborne for up to two hours. Investigators are trying to determine whether they were launched from land or from a vessel that avoided detection.

Irish authorities have not yet established who operated the drones or where they are now. The aircraft were described as large, expensive, and of military specification, prompting security services to assess the incident as a possible hybrid attack.

Officials note that the drones had their lights on—an indicator that the objective may have been to disrupt the plane’s approach rather than conceal their presence.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, the Taoiseach, and the Ministers for Justice and Defence were briefed in the hours following the incident. It remains unclear whether Zelenskyy’s delegation was informed.

Irish forces did not attempt to shoot down the drones. The naval vessel lacked the systems needed to disable them, and handheld Garda equipment was out of range. An Air Corps aircraft patrolling the area also did not engage.

The breach follows similar drone incursions elsewhere in Europe that have forced airport closures and heightened regional security concerns.

By Vugar Khalilov