Investigations are underway in Ireland and France this week after two more incidents involving unidentified drones flying near the country’s coastlines.
On Monday night, just as the plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was about to land ahead of his first official visit to Ireland, multiple drones were seen flying off the coast of Dublin.
On Thursday night, several drones flew near a French naval base on the Atlantic coast that houses nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, French prosecutors told local media.
The two incidents are the latest in a series of unexplained sightings in several European countries since September. Some drones disrupt civilian air traffic, while others fly near air force bases and other military installations.
European officials have said they believe Russia was behind at least some of the incidents, but no drones have been recovered or shot down.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously ridiculed claims that Russia is behind drone sightings in Europe.
French prosecutors told French media that none of the drones that flew near the Illongue submarine base in northwestern France were shot down and the pilots have not been identified. It’s not clear where the drones came from.
Prosecutor Frédéric Taiye told AFP that at this stage no “link to foreign interference” had been established. He added that French marines at the base used jamming devices against the drone.
“An investigation is underway to find out what this overflight was about,” French Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin told broadcaster TF1 on Friday.
Drone flights are prohibited on the Crozon Peninsula, which is home to submarine bases and other military infrastructure.
Irish police said little about the incident on Monday, telling CNN on Friday that a special investigation unit was investigating and would “work with the Defense Forces and international security partners.”
Ukrainian media quoted Zelenskiy’s adviser Dmytro Litvin as saying that Ukrainian authorities were aware of the drone’s presence, but action was deemed unnecessary.
“Security is the host’s responsibility,” Litvin said. “According to their data, such drones were indeed present, but this did not impact visits and did not require any forced changes to visits.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called the recent spate of invasions a “hybrid war.”
In September, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said that although authorities did not know who was behind the incident, “we can at least conclude that there is one main country that poses a threat to European security: Russia.”
Many of the drone sightings have occurred near coastlines in the Baltic Sea and other European countries, raising concerns that Russia is using ships as drone platforms.
Reuters previously reported that the Russian ship called Boracay, one of hundreds of licensed tankers transporting Russian oil, was about 50 nautical miles (90 kilometers) south of Copenhagen on its way out of the Baltic Sea when drone activity forced the closure of Copenhagen’s airport on September 22.
It was also seen moving south along Denmark’s west coast on September 24, with drones reported flying north of Esbjerg and near several nearby airports, Reuters reported.
The Kremlin said at the time that it had no information about the ship, but added that Russian forces have sometimes had to act to restore order when foreign countries take what spokesman Dmitry Peskov described as “provocative actions.”
The Boracay was then boarded by French authorities and the Chinese captain was charged with failing to provide proof of the ship’s nationality and failing to comply with orders.
