Russia's inability or unwillingness to close the skies over Ukraine has presented a potential opportunity for the United States to conduct a secret drone campaign in the conflict-ravaged country, current and former U.S. military officials familiar with the nation's drone program tell Newsweek.
And with chaos on the ground in Ukraine, these sources said it would be possible to obscure who was flying the unmanned aerial combat systems and at the same time avoid belying Biden's public promises not to send U.S. troops to take on Russian soldiers.
"Biden's statement about no U.S. service members in Ukraine opens the door wide to covert drones as well as CIA paramilitary in the country," one former senior U.S. intelligence officer told Newsweek.
Among the possible targets referenced is a Russian convoy currently rolling toward Kyiv that stretches some 40 miles long. By necessity, such an operation would likely be limited in scale to avoid detection by Moscow.
