'Russia was behind drone incursion during Zelenskyy visit' say Irish security sources

The LÉ William Butler Yeats — its crew members spotted the drone incursion after Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s plane landed in Dublin on December 1. File picture: Dan Linehan

Irish security services suspect Russian intelligence — or groups acting on their behalf — were most likely behind the hybrid drone incidents during the visit of the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Ireland.

This is based on information and intelligence gathered so far in the investigation.

However, it is understood no evidence, to date, has been uncovered to prove this suspicion.

Without access to the actual drones, or information that might lead to the identification of their operators, sources said it will be very difficult to find evidence to show Russia was behind the hybrid incident.

A number of European countries — including Belgium, Denmark, and France — also suspect Russian involvement in drone incursions but, for similar reasons, have been unable to find evidence to prove it.

'Hostile state behind drone incursions'

In September of this year, Poland shot down drones over its airspace. It was able to identify them as Russian.

It is understood that Irish security services believe there is a strong possibility that a hostile state, namely Russia, was behind the drone incident — either directly through its intelligence agencies or by a proxy, such as hired groups or individuals linked to them.

It is thought Irish authorities may not be able to establish where the drones were flown from — whether from a vessel on the Irish Sea or from land in Ireland.

The drones were spotted by the crew of the LÉ William Butler Yeats, which had positioned itself in the Irish Sea, after Mr Zelenskyy’s plane had passed the flight path and landed at Dublin Airport on December 1.

Multiple sources say the drones did not pose any threat, believing they were deliberately positioned on the edge of Irish territorial jurisdiction (12 nautical miles from the coast).

One source said of the drone incursion during Mr Zelenskyy’s visit: 'They were testing our defences, the purpose to sow seeds of doubt in the country — and they did that.' Picture: iStock 

“They were testing our defences, the purpose to sow seeds of doubt in the country — and they did that,” one source said.

They were saying: ‘We are here and this is just the start, just wait until the [EU] presidency.’

These concerns are feeding into a high-level discussion, from the Taoiseach down to the agency bosses, in terms of “learning lessons” from the incident.

This is believed to focus on improving communication between the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána, establishing clearly which agency is responsible for what.

This includes which agency takes the lead for the security of airspace, the security of territorial waters, and for Irish-controlled waters (up to 200 nautical miles).

The issues of communication and areas of responsibility were supposed to be cleared up by the National Security Analysis Centre (NSAC), established within the Department of the Taoiseach in early 2019, as recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland.

However, the NSAC was not given the political and financial priority to conduct many of its tasks.

Sources said the Government now realises that these issues must be clearly addressed before Ireland assumes the presidency of the EU on July 1.

Some doubts have been expressed as to whether government announcements that a counter unmanned aerial system will be in place in the Defence Forces before the presidency can be met.

The Department of Defence said it was anticipated that delivery of the new capability “will begin in the new year”, and that it will be available for the presidency.