A U.S. intelligence source told ABC News on Wednesday that the explosive drone found next to a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle airport earlier this month looked like the work of Russia’s military intelligence service, the GRU. The explosives and the way the device was built were “typical” of GRU kit, the official said, in an assessment made with German agencies. The small drone, fitted with explosives and a detonator, was found on the tarmac on August 4 near an Antonov Airlines aircraft. It did not go off. The U.S. source said the trigger was disconnected.
Leipzig is a cargo and military logistics hub. The U.S. military and NATO allies use it to move weapons to Ukraine, which is the point. Investigators think the drone was meant to cripple aircraft on the ground, slow those shipments, and send Germany a message about backing Kyiv. Germany’s interior minister called a drone with explosives at an airport a “new threat scenario” that took a “high level of technical expertise.” Bomb disposal teams sent a robot onto the field. The airport shut down for hours.
German media reported Tuesday that the plot was larger than the first scare. Investigators found a third drone on August 14 in Kabelsketal, just west of the airport, with about 50 grams of a suspected military explosive, possibly hexogen. A second drone may have clipped a DHL cargo plane that had to abort its landing and divert to Hanover, with damage later found on the tail. In Kursdorf, north of the field, police found an antenna taped to a tree and scorched ground. An investigators’ report, as quoted by local media, said the perpetrators “may have had a far larger attack in mind than previously known to the public.”
Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking Tuesday before a cabinet meeting, still would not name a country. He said Germany had “increasingly become a target for hybrid attackers,” that agencies were “working intensively,” and that those behind it “will pay for this.” Findings would come “shortly.” Russia’s SVR accused German politicians and European media on Monday of blaming Moscow before the investigation had even produced preliminaries. Moscow has denied involvement. U.S. officials say Leipzig has seen multiple suspected Russian sabotage attempts, and 18 drone incidents have disrupted traffic there since January.
Sources: ABC News; The Guardian; Euronews.
