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

Audio By Carbonatix

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, and announced that it would shut down a Russian consulate among other measures.

The drone was found near a Ukrainian plane on Aug. 4 and the device was defused. German officials said at the time that the incident posed a new level of danger.

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

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said authorities found elements such as the drone configuration, components, explosives and detonator that are “known to us from other Russian hybrid operations and its war against Ukraine.” He said the device pointed to “a high degree of technical expertise” and painstaking planning, but carrying out the plan appears to have been left to “low-level” agents.

Dobrindt told reporters that intelligence points to “people being involved who acted on behalf of Russian state entities,” though he didn't specify which ones. “Taken together, the police investigations, the pattern and intelligence findings prove a Russian responsibility for the attempted attack at Leipzig airport.”

Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said that “with the attempted attack in Leipzig, the Russian leadership decided deliberately to do significant damage again to our already massively burdened bilateral relationship." He said the Russian consulate in Bonn will be closed effective Sept. 18. The Russian House cultural center in Berlin also will be closed, though that may take some time.

Germany will propose the addition of more people from Russia to European Union sanctions lists “in the context of hybrid attacks,” step up entry controls for people from Russia and increase "pressure on the shadow fleet,” a reference to tankers suspected of shipping Russian oil in violation of international sanctions, Wadephul said. The EU has sanctioned hundreds of “shadow fleet” ships.

The Russian ambassador was summoned to the foreign ministry in Berlin.

Wadephul later told ARD television that “Germany can at any time show a stronger reaction, (but) that is not necessary at this point.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said there would be a “fitting response” to the planned closures, Russian state news agency Tass reported.

She rejected claims of Russian involvement in the attempted drone attack, calling them a “far-fetched and contrived pretext” for Berlin to escalate tensions and arguing that “as usual, no convincing or serious evidence has been presented whatsoever.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Berlin’s allegations, instead claiming that Germany’s leadership sought to use the incident to distract from their own failings and dissatisfaction among voters with “the need to counter an aggressive Russia.”

"But where is the proof? Well, the proof has been planted,” Putin told reporters in the early hours of Wednesday in Kyrgyzstan, where he attended a summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. He didn't elaborate on why he thinks the proof has been planted, nor did he offer evidence.

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.

The Associated Press has tracked around 200 incidents of sabotage and malign activity across Europe blamed on Russia by Western officials since the invasion of Ukraine.

That includes organizing plots to set fire to warehouses, launching drones and trying to kill enemies abroad as well as stealing defense technology and carrying out cyberattacks on critical European infrastructure.

In May, Putin responded to the AP findings and said Moscow is not waging a sabotage campaign against Europe. He demanded that AP “name one proven fact.”

The EU has slapped almost two dozen packages of sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine, targeting roughly 3,000 people and entities. EU foreign ministers will meet in Ireland Wednesday.

European allies rallied around Germany after Tuesday's announcement. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said in a post on X that he had spoken with Chancellor Friedrich Merz and “NATO stands in full solidarity with Germany after the Russian hybrid attack in Leipzig.”

In mid-August, the German Cabinet approved plans to give the country’s intelligence services broader powers for actions such as disabling sabotage and hacking attempts. The planned reform, which had been in the works for months, still requires parliamentary approval.

Hours before Tuesday's German statement, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who has frequently warned that Russia is carrying out a campaign of sabotage against NATO countries, said Poland has been targeted by new acts of sabotage including arson within the past “dozens of hours.”

He spoke the day after a fire broke out at WB Electronics, which the Polish government has described as Europe’s biggest drone manufacturer.

Prosecutors said Monday they launched an investigation based on suspicions of the “participation of foreign intelligence activities against the Republic of Poland,” without elaborating on what country might be responsible. They said the fire in Skarżysko-Kamienna destroyed warehouse facilities and caused damage estimated at at least 15 million zlotys ($4 million).

___

Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, Emma Burrows in London, and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw contributed to this report.