The German government will accuse a Russian intelligence service of being behind last month’s failed drone attack on a local airport used to transport military equipment to Ukraine.
Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt will say Russia was behind the attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport during a joint press conference in Berlin on Tuesday.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz said last week that the attempted attack on a major logistics hub used to deliver aid to Ukraine marked a new level of hybrid threat, but did not say who was behind it.
According to Merz, those responsible will “pay the price” for the attack, which forced the airport to divert several aircraft after a drone carrying explosives was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane.
The drone incident, along with an investigation into a possible link between foreign intelligence services and a weapons cache discovered on the outskirts of Berlin last year, has put Europe’s largest economy on heightened alert.
Across Europe, suspected Kremlin provocations involving drones and explosions are being recorded with increasing frequency, more than four years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia denies allegations that it is behind this wave of suspected incidents.
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin is preparing a response to a suspected drone attack on a Ukrainian cargo plane in Leipzig.
- So far, Germany has not officially named who it believes was behind the incident at Leipzig Airport on 4 August, when a drone loaded with explosives was found near an Antonov Ukrainian cargo aircraft used to transport military cargo.