An Irish navy ship detected up to five drones operating near the flight path of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's aircraft as he arrived for a state visit to Ireland on Monday, according to Irish and Ukrainian media. The sighting prompted a major security alert amid concerns it was an attempt to interfere with the flight path, the Irish Times reported. The news outlet quoted unnamed sources as saying the aircraft, which arrived slightly early, was not in any danger.
The Journal website reported that the drones reached the location where Zelenskyy's plane was expected to be at the exact moment it had been due to pass. Inquiries are under way to determine whether the drones took off from land or an undetected ship. They were first spotted north-east of Dublin, around 20km from the airport, both news outlets reported.
Ukrainian media quoted an adviser to Zelenskyy, Dmytro Lytvyn, as saying that Ukrainian officials were made aware of the drones but no action was deemed necessary. "According to their data, there were indeed such drones, but this did not affect the visit and there was no need to force any change to the visit," he said. Ireland's Defence Forces declined to comment on specifics for security reasons, but said in a statement that support to the security operation was successfully deployed, leading to a safe and successful visit.
