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Four high-end military drones breached Dublin’s no-fly zone and attempted to interfere with the landing of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s aircraft, an incident Irish security services are treating as a hybrid attack.
Late on 1 December 2025, four unidentified military-grade drones entered the restricted airspace over Dublin Airport and tried to obstruct the landing of the Ukrainian president’s plane, Irish outlet The Journal reported, citing security sources.
Zelenskyy’s aircraft touched down just minutes before the drones appeared — slightly ahead of schedule. The UAVs moved directly onto the plane’s expected flight path at the exact moment it was supposed to be there. Their activated navigation lights suggested the intent was to disrupt the landing. Once the president’s aircraft was safely on the ground, the drones abruptly changed course and headed toward the Irish Navy vessel LÉ William Butler Yeats, which had been covertly securing Dublin’s coastal waters during the visit.
According to intelligence assessments, the drones were large, extremely expensive and strictly military in nature. They remained airborne for up to two hours and are believed to have been launched either from the Howth area northeast of Dublin or from an unidentified vessel.
No decision was made to shoot them down. An Irish Air Corps aircraft was patrolling the airspace at the time but did not intervene. The drones eventually disappeared, and their operators have not been identified.
Irish security services have classified the incident as a “hybrid attack.” Senior government officials — including the prime minister and security ministers — were briefed within hours. It remains unclear whether the Ukrainian side was informed.
