Ukraine Planned to Swarm Moscow Airports With AI-Guided Drones
Ukrainian officials considered a plan to use AI-guided drone swarms to target Moscow airports to pressure Russia into peace negotiations. President Zelensky expressed concerns over the potential for civilian casualties and the legal implications of autonomous weapon deployment.
Why it matters
The potential use of autonomous AI weapons in a major conflict represents a significant escalation and a dangerous precedent for international warfare and humanitarian law.
The stalled operation, code-named “M&Ms,” sought to isolate Russian elites and force Vladimir Putin to negotiate a truce.
Andrey Rudakov / Bloomberg / Getty August 20, 2026, 12:03 PM ET Share Save E arly this year , Ukrainian officials came to President Volodymyr Zelensky 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. In addition to Ukraine’s ongoing strikes against Russian military bases, oil refineries, supply lines, and logistics hubs, the officials wanted to launch waves of AI-enabled drones at Moscow’s airports, hoping to stop international carriers from flying in and out of the Russian capital, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the plan, which has not been previously reported.
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