The Atlantic: Zelenskyy was reportedly offered plan to strike Moscow airports with drones

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was reportedly offered a plan in early 2026 to launch large-scale drone strikes against airports in Moscow and Moscow Oblast.

Source: The Atlantic, citing two people familiar with the situation

Quote: "Early this year, Ukrainian officials came to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a risky new plan to end the war with Russia. It would require expanding their bombing campaign to include a set of targets and a class of weapons they had long avoided."

Details: According to two sources cited by The Atlantic, officials proposed expanding Ukrainian strikes to Moscow's airports using drones equipped with artificial intelligence. The aim would have been to disrupt the operations of international airlines flying to and from the Russian capital.

If conducted, the plan would have been unprecedented in the history of warfare. It envisaged swarms of autonomous drones equipped with AI-based navigation systems independently locating and striking targets without being controlled by an operator.

According to the journalists, similar systems have been tested by various countries, including the US, in recent years. Meanwhile, the legality of their use is the subject of an ongoing debate because of the potential for violations of international humanitarian law. No country has yet used such systems in combat.

The Atlantic reported that the plan was presented to Zelenskyy in the winter. The Ukrainian president expressed serious concern about the potential threat to civilian aviation, including the risk of accidentally striking a passenger aircraft or killing civilians near the airports.

Despite these concerns, Zelenskyy, seeking a way to put pressure on Russia and revive the peace process, allowed preparations for such strikes to continue for some time, The Atlantic said.

The Atlantic reported that by mid-spring, preparations had progressed sufficiently far and the project had been given the name M&M's.

The Atlantic said former defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov played a key role in the project. According to the sources, he was involved in assembling a team of developers, developing AI-based guidance systems and seeking funding to produce large numbers of autonomous UAVs.

However, preparations for the operation were subsequently halted.

A representative from the Office of the President of Ukraine denied the information in comments to The Atlantic, calling the claims false.

There is currently no official confirmation that such a plan was developed or existed.

Background:

• Moscow and Moscow Oblast have come under repeated drone attacks in recent months. For example, on the night of 18-19 August, Russian authorities again reported a drone attack on Moscow.
• On the night of 17-18 August, the Russian authorities reported that more than 600 drones were heading towards Moscow.
• On the afternoon of 18 August, Russia's Defence Ministry claimed that more than 1,600 drones had been shot down over a 24-hour period, along with 10 guided aerial bombs and two HIMARS rockets.

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