Germany blames Russia for last month’s attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport

BERLIN (AP) — The German government on Tuesday blamed Russia for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport last month using a drone laden with explosives.

The drone was found near a Ukrainian plane on the evening of Aug. 4 and the device was defused.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that the attempted attack fits into a known pattern of “Russian hybrid operations.” He said the German government “comes to the conclusion that Russia is responsible for the hybrid attack in Leipzig on Aug. 4.”

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that the Russian consulate in Bonn will be closed effective Sept. 18 and the contract under which the Russian House, a cultural center in Berlin, is operated will be rescinded.

Leipzig/Halle is a major hub for international freight and for providing support to Ukraine. The planes that regularly use it include Ukrainian Antonov transport aircraft.

It is also home to NATO’s Strategic Airlift International Solution, or SALIS, which is currently operational almost every day in delivering equipment to NATO battle groups along its eastern flank from Finland to Romania and supporting EU and alliance nation missions.

In 2024, an incendiary device ignited at a logistics center at the airport and set fire to a freight container before it could be loaded onto a cargo plane, part of a plot that Western security officials suspect was organized by Russian intelligence.

Moscow has been widely accused by Western officials of running a campaign of sabotage and disruption across Europe with the aim of undermining support for Ukraine and destabilizing European nations.

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