BERLIN – Germany on Tuesday formally held Russia responsible for last month’s attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport and ordered diplomatic countermeasures, including closing Russia’s Bonn consulate.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said police work and intelligence establish Russian responsibility for the Aug. 4 hybrid attack, when an explosives-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane. “Taken together, police investigations, patterns of the crime and intelligence findings substantiate Russian responsibility,” he said. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the drone kit matched other Russian hybrid operations tied to the war on Ukraine.
Wadephul ordered the Bonn consulate closed from Sept. 18, ended the agreement for the Russian House cultural center in Berlin, tightened entry controls for Russian nationals, and summoned Ambassador Sergei Nechayev. Berlin will also push more EU sanctions listings. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen voiced solidarity.
President Vladimir Putin, speaking in Kyrgyzstan, accused Germany of planting evidence and asked where the proof was. Russia’s embassy in Berlin called the charge “absurd” and said Moscow would respond. Leipzig is a cargo and military logistics hub used by NATO and Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines.
Sources: BBC; Deutsche Welle.
