Ukraine planned to attack Moscow airports with drones - media

Ukraine planned to launch drone strikes on Moscow airports, but the plan was later shelved, The Atlantic reported, citing sources.

The publication writes that earlier this year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was offered to launch thousands of drones at Moscow airports. The plan called for launching up to 1,000 drones a day at airports in and around Moscow. These drones were equipped with an artificial intelligence system and were supposed to find and hit targets without the participation of an operator.

According to one of the officials familiar with the plan, the idea was to close Moscow airspace to civilian flights for a long time.

According to sources, when Zelensky was presented with the plan in the winter, he expressed serious concerns. The president was afraid that drones would hit a civilian aircraft in Moscow, especially if passengers, airport staff or crew members were killed or injured.

Nevertheless, Zelensky allowed several months of preparations for these strikes in the spring and early summer, in an effort to pressure Russia into returning to peace talks.

By mid-spring, the covert operation, codenamed "M&M's," was well underway. However, in July, Zelensky fired Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov, who was the "main organizer of the operation," and the planning was halted.

According to The Atlantic, Fedorov worked on the plan throughout 2026 and assembled a team of Ukrainian programmers to develop artificial intelligence-based systems. He also secured funding from Ukrainian partners in Europe for the mass production of autonomous drones.

One of the sources expressed hope that Ukraine's new Defense Minister, Yevgeny Khmara, would continue the plan. "We'll try. Technically, it's possible. The project could be restarted with a new team, it would take about three months," the source said.

At the same time, an official from the Ukrainian presidential office denied the existence of such a plan in his response. "This is complete nonsense," the official, who asked not to be named, said.