Ukraine’s campaign to paralyze airport operations in Russia is “only just getting started,” sources told The Atlantic’s Simon Shuster.
Shuster first reported on plans for the operation, code-named M&M’s, in late August. On September 1, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia’s skies were “becoming extremely dangerous” because “there will simply be drones in Russia’s skies on a scale that has to be taken into account.”
Shuster’s sources now say Ukraine has been trying in recent weeks to disrupt air traffic around Russian airports with long-range drones. But Zelensky has yet to approve the original plan, which called for much more aggressive tactics.
A larger-scale version of the campaign would use AI-guided drones capable of evading Russian air defenses. Mass production of these drones is expected to begin soon, one source told The Atlantic.
The Atlantic reported in August that Mykhailo Fedorov, who was defense minister when the original plan was drawn up, actively pushed for it. Work on the plan was reportedly suspended after his dismissal in July.
Moscow’s airports began suspending operations more frequently in October. During the first 14 days of the month, the four airports were closed for a combined 101 hours, according to calculations by Agentstvo, compared with just 46 hours in all of September. Overnight into October 14, all of Moscow’s airports were closed for a record seven consecutive hours.
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