Ukraine planned 1,000 AI-guided drones a night to shut Moscow airports, Atlantic reports
Two anonymous sources said the drones could identify targets despite jamming. A Ukrainian presidential official denied the project existed.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy permitted preparations for an AI-guided drone campaign against Moscow-area airports, according to The Atlantic's report on August 20. The undisclosed sources claim the plan aimed to pressure Kremlin-linked elites and force Vladimir Putin into negotiations by keeping civilian flights grounded. Code-named M&Ms, the operation envisioned up to 1,000 drones flying towards Moscow nightly, utilizing onboard cameras to compare live views with preloaded maps and target images.
The drones would strike without pilot confirmation and navigate independently, bypassing vulnerable remote-control links. However, the plan was abandoned when Zelenskyy dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov in July. The Atlantic's disclosure follows a series of reported Ukrainian drone attacks on Moscow's airports, disrupting flights and prompting Russian claims of downing a record 1,671 drones in one night.
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