Four military drones breached a no-fly zone near Volodymyr Zelenskyy's plane at Dublin airport. Photo / Getty Images
Four military drones breached a no-fly zone and flew towards Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plane before it landed at Dublin airport on Monday, it has emerged.
The drones reached the location where the Ukrainian President’s plane was expected to be, but the flight landed slightly before schedule at 11pm, The Journal reported.
The unidentified UAVs then orbited above an Irish Navy vessel that had secretly been deployed in the Irish Sea before Zelenskyy’s first visit to Ireland.
Sources told The Journal that the drones took off northeast of Dublin before flying for two hours. It is not known who launched the drones or their current location.
Security sources suspect the drones aimed to disrupt Zelenskyy’s arrival in Dublin as the UAVs had their lights on.
They also said the drones were military grade and that the incident could be classified as an act of hybrid warfare.
The public was explicitly told that there was a “no drone zone” above Dublin for Zelenskyy’s trip.
The Irish Times later reported five drones and not four had breached the no-fly zone. It triggered a major security alert but sources told the newspaper Zelenskyy’s plane was slightly early and was never in danger.
Russian security services are the most likely to be blamed, sources told the Irish Times, but added there was no direct evidence of this.
The drones had their lights turned on, and it appeared “they wanted to be seen”, a security source said. “They had the capability and intent. They could have taken action at any moment of their choosing.”
The Department of Defence refused to comment because of operational security reasons.
Barry Andrews, a Fianna Fáil MEP, said: “It is a criminal offence to operate a drone within this area without permission.”
Prematurely, he thanked the Irish Aviation Authority and the police for keeping Mr and Mrs Zelenskyy safe.
↗️ Notice: #Dublin is a no drone zone today and tomorrow.
— Barry Andrews MEP (@BarryAndrewsMEP) December 1, 2025
It is a criminal offence to operate a drone within this area without permission.
Thank you to @IAApress and @gardainfo for your work protecting our guests @ZelenskyyUa and @ZelenskaUA, visiting from #Ukraine.
🇮🇪🇺🇦🇪🇺 pic.twitter.com/ynhGxzdqW6
European countries have been on high alert in recent months after a series of drone incursions that have led to the closure of airports in Brussels, Denmark, and Berlin.
The Ukrainian President’s first visit to Ireland came when US-led negotiations on a possible peace deal were at a sensitive stage.
Zelenskyy arrived in Ireland from Paris on a whistle-stop tour designed to rally support after reports Donald Trump was insisting Kyiv sacrifice land for peace.
But the security operation stretched Ireland’s resources to the limit.
Ireland’s navy has just eight ships, but it was reported in March that only four could go to sea because of a chronic shortage of personnel.
The drones approached the LÉ William Butler Yeats, which was secretly deployed off Dublin in Irish waters but has no air radar.
Lookouts on deck spotted the drones, which were lit up against the night sky.
It was decided not to shoot down the drones because there was no ability on board to disable them, and the only air defence capability was the ship’s machine guns.
One of the Irish Air Corps’ 24 aircraft was patrolling nearby but did not engage the drones.
The Taoiseach and Ministers for Justice and Defence were briefed on the incident in the hours after it happened. It is not known if Zelenskyy was briefed.
There was also a spike in Russian shadow fleet activity in Irish waters during Zelenskyy’s visit, adding to the security burden.
Officials believed it was unlikely that the three vessels under international sanctions were linked to the visit, which meant maritime patrol aircraft were not able to maintain surveillance.
But Russia has been accused of deploying its shadow fleet of oil tankers to carry out offshore launches of drones that have plagued Europe’s airports and military infrastructure.
Telegraph analysis of tracking data put a tanker, the Boracay, in the Baltic, where a string of drone swarms was launched in September.
The vessel was within 50 nautical miles of Copenhagen on September 22 when drone activity brought the Danish capital’s airport to a standstill for hours.
In the following days, the tanker skirted Denmark’s northernmost tip before sailing down its western coast when further drone sightings occurred.
While the Boracay was later seized by French authorities, other tankers in the shadow fleet are still active.
The fleet is better known for funding Putin’s war machine by evading sanctions to ship oil.
Copenhagen is believed to be the first time a tanker was used to carry out a drone attack, suggesting a new Moscow hybrid warfare method.
Zelenskyy was the first to warn that Russia was using shadow-fleet vessels to “launch and control” drones over European cities, citing domestic intelligence on September 28.
The three vessels off Ireland were tracked remotely, but security sources told the Irish Times that aircraft were not available to conduct physical surveillance.
The Irish Air Corps were part of the large security operation to protect the Ukrainian President.
It was seen as a rehearsal for Ireland taking up the rotating presidency of the EU next year, which will involve many high-profile events and a summit of the bloc’s 27 leaders.
Ireland, which, relative to economy and size, spends the least on defence in the EU, plans to buy new fighter jets and double the size of its navy.
Relative to its economy and population, Dublin spends the least on defence within the EU and still relies on the RAF to intercept aircraft threatening Ireland.
In 2024, €1.3 billion ($2.6 billion) was allocated to defence, equating to 0.24% of its GDP, compared to the European average of 1.74%.
A record €1.5 billion has been allocated for 2026, but this still represents a quarter of 1% of GDP. Today, Ireland still relies on the RAF to intercept aircraft posing a threat.
The Government has called for Ireland’s defence budget to triple in size in the years ahead.
In March, it was reported that the Irish Government planned to spend more than £2 billion on the fighter jets, which would be its first acquisition in 50 years, and end decades of reliance on the UK to protect its skies.
It has asked for detailed costings and timelines for between eight and 14 combat aircraft, which is estimated to cost between €60m and €100m annually over the next 20 to 25 years.
Under the proposals, the Irish Naval Service will double its fleet to 12 ships and be renamed the Irish Navy, which will give Ireland “a defensive conventional maritime war-fighting capability”.
The Irish Defence Forces, which includes the army, navy and air corps, had 7550 permanent personnel at the end of 2023.
Last year, faced with a staffing crisis, it outsourced naval recruitment to a private company.
The manpower problems were so acute, Ireland could only sail a single ship at times last year and several sailings were cancelled.
Ireland has a long-standing policy of military neutrality but also of taking part in UN peacekeeping missions, which are a source of national pride. It has soldiers stationed in the Middle East and Africa.
However, Catherine Connolly, its new president, is a left-winger who is an enthusiastic champion of Irish neutrality.
She is a staunch opponent of calls to end Ireland’s “triple lock”, which is a mechanism that stops more than 12 Irish peacekeepers being deployed without the backing of the parliament, government and UN.
The call to end the triple lock gained impetus because Russia, as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, can veto the deployment of Irish peacekeepers.
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