Irish police said Friday they were investigating the sighting of several unidentified drones in the skies as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s plane landed in Dublin this week.
Europe has been on heightened alert as mysterious drone flights over airports and sensitive infrastructure have rattled the continent in recent months.
Concerns are growing that such disruptions could be part of Russian hybrid war tactics three-and-a-half years into its invasion of Ukraine, with Kyiv backed by European countries including Ireland.
Zelensky arrived in Ireland for his first official visit late Monday, flying in from Paris after talks with French President Emmanuel Macron.
Irish daily The Journal first reported that several military-style drones had been spotted by an Irish navy ship operating near the flight path of Zelensky’s plane as it approached Ireland’s coast.
A no-flight zone was in effect around Dublin at the time.
The “special detective Unit (SDU) is investigating this matter. As part of this, SDU will be liaising with the Defence Forces and international security partners,” a police statement said.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin told public broadcaster RTE that he would hold a national security meeting on the incident by the end of the month.
But he said he would not make “any comment until we have a full review” when asked Friday if Russia was behind the incident.
“Suffice to say that since the onset of the Ukrainian war there’s been heightened activity on the cyber security front, in terms of maritime issues and in terms of drones,” he added.
A French source told AFP on Friday that the French military had taken anti-drone measures one day earlier after five unmanned vehicles flew over a nuclear submarine base.
Drones have also been spotted over airports and other infrastructure in countries including Germany, Belgium and Britain.
Poland said in September that it had shot down three Russian drones. Moscow denied targeting the country.
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