Germany holds Russia “responsible” for the “hybrid attack” carried out, according to it, with a drone loaded with explosives at the beginning of August at Leipzig airport, a key platform for the German army, NATO and logistical support for Ukraine, the German Interior Minister said on Tuesday.
“Overall, police investigations, operating methods and information from the intelligence services demonstrate Russian responsibility in the attempted attack at Leipzig airport,” Alexander Dobrindt said in a short statement.
In early August, a drone loaded with explosives was discovered in the airport’s secure cargo operations area, near several Ukrainian cargo planes, and a second device reportedly struck a DHL cargo plane minutes later.
According to media reports, which rely on sources close to the authorities, a third drone was found ten days later west of the airport.
A substance that could correspond to approximately 50 grams of hexogen, a very powerful military explosive, was found on site.
The minister supported his accusation by the fact that the “means of action observed fit “into the well-known pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe”.
“On the orders of Russian state authorities”
“The configuration of the drones” and the use of “various components, explosives and igniting devices” refer to “other hybrid operations carried out by Russia and its war against Ukraine,” he said.
The technology used and “the interaction of the different elements must be described as professional and reveal a high level of technical expertise as well as a considerable organizational effort,” he continued.
If the final execution of the “attempted attack” was carried out by so-called “disposable” agents, the latter acted “on the orders of Russian state authorities”, the conservative minister further accused.
His Foreign Affairs colleague, Johann Wadephul, immediately announced the closure within a fortnight of the country’s last Russian consulate, in Bonn, and a Russian cultural center in Berlin suspected of harboring spies.
