German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt has warned that the discovery of a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig airport marks “a new level of danger” for the country. Authorities are currently examining whether the thwarted attack, which occurred on Wednesday morning, could have been planned by a foreign power as part of a “professional hybrid threat scenario.” The incident caused significant alarm and led to flight diversions, including a passenger plane from Mallorca. Operations in the northern part of the airport resumed after two hours, while the southern runway remained closed as police deployed a bomb disposal robot to defuse and destroy the device.
Investigators reported that the drone, a quadcopter fitted with an explosive device, was spotted by an airport employee in the security area of the cargo operations zone near the south runway, a facility classified as “critical infrastructure.” Media reports, including those from NDR, WDR, and the Süddeutsche newspaper, suggested the device contained pentaerythritol tetranitrate, or PETN, a primary ingredient in semtex. The tabloid Bild speculated the explosive could have been fabricated from fertiliser and petrol. The drone was found near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane, some of which are emblazoned with slogans such as “Be Brave Like Kherson” and “Be Brave Like Bucha.”
In a separate development, a DHL cargo plane forced to abort its landing collided with an unknown object in mid-air while climbing away from the airport. The aircraft later landed safely in Hanover, where minor damage was detected. Investigators confirmed a suspected second unidentified flying object collided with the cargo plane after the runway had been closed. A NATO official stated they are aware of the incident and that German authorities are continuing their investigation.
While officials did not explicitly name Russia, the airport’s status as a NATO and German military logistics hub, alongside its role as the European base for Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines, has directed suspicion toward Moscow. Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, explicitly blamed Russia, asking, “Who else could it be but Russia?” Moscow has not commented. Konstantin von Notz, the Green party’s spokesperson on intelligence oversight, told Der Spiegel that if a state is behind the action, it would constitute “not merely terrorism but state terrorism directed against the federal republic of Germany and its citizens.” He further told the Rheinische Post that if the details are confirmed, it would represent a “new level of escalation.”
Germany has faced a series of suspicious drone overflights at military and logistics facilities. Last year, a Chinese national was convicted for passing information about flight schedules and cargo movements at Leipzig/Halle airport to a man spying for Beijing. Additionally, Die Zeit reported that Russian secret services were plotting an attack against Stefan Thumann, the head of German drone manufacturer Donaustahl, leading to the arrest of a Ukrainian man and a Romanian woman this spring. In 2024, US intelligence reportedly foiled a Russian plot to assassinate Armin Papperger, the chief executive of Rheinmetall, as part of a broader campaign of sabotage and espionage against countries supporting Ukraine, which the Kremlin has denied.
