Zelenskyy's plane 'missed' unknown drones during visit to Ireland – The Journal

During the arrival of the president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on December 1, four unidentified military-grade drones violated the no-fly zone and flew in the direction of the leader's plane. The aircraft and the UAVs did not meet, as Zelenskyy arrived ahead of schedule, states Irish media outlet The Journal, citing its own interlocutors.

According to him, the presidential plane landed a little earlier than scheduled, a few minutes before the drone incident, which occurred around 23:00 in the sea near Dublin Airport.

"The drones reached the location where Zelenskyy’s plane was expected to be at the exact moment it had been due to pass.The drones then orbited above an Irish Navy vessel that had secretly been deployed in the Irish Sea for the Zelenskyy visit," the media outlet said.

Its sources indicate that the drones took off from northeast Dublin and flew for up to two hours – an investigation is underway to determine whether the drones were launched from land or from an undetected ship.

It is not yet known who launched and operated the UAVs, nor their current location.

"Military-style drones are capable of a large range of functions. In this case, the fact that the drones had their lights on has led security forces to suspect that the aim was to disrupt the flight’s arrival into Dublin," The Journal reports.

It points out that it is not known whether the Irish authorities informed Zelenskyy's team about the incident.

According to media reports, the Irish security services found that the drones were "large, hugely expensive, of military specification" and that the incident could be classified as a hybrid attack.

The Journal states that after the UAVs missed the approach of Zelenskyy's plane, they turned their attention to the Irish patrol vessel: "A decision was made not to shoot down the drones, and there was no ability onboard the naval vessel to disable them. It is understood an Irish Air Corps aircraft was also patrolling at the time but did not get involved."

The media adds that these UAVs were probably quadcopters, as they could hover over the warship (thanks to four propellers, such drones can stay in one position).

The sources also note that the drones were moving independently of each other, meaning that they may have been operated by four pilots.

"Zelenskyy’s visit to Dublin went off without any major hitches. However, his aircraft did use a specialist take off as it left Dublin Airport to limit exposure to any drone incidents," The Journal points out.

• At the end of November, during another incident with unknown UAVs, the military in the Netherlands used weapons to no avail against drones spotted over one of the air bases.