Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt called the early Wednesday incident at Leipzig and Halle airport – a strategic military and logistics transport hub – a hybrid attack, which signifies a “new level of threat.”
Berlin did not accuse anyone, but A. Dobrindt said that a “foreign state” could have been involved in this incident, which occurred after sabotage, espionage, and a disinformation campaign for which security services blame Russia.
The mentioned airport in eastern Germany plays an important role for the German armed forces and NATO allies in transporting military goods. It also serves as a base for the Ukrainian airline “Antonov Airlines.”
According to the newspaper “Bild,” an airport employee saw a drone flying near the Ukrainian plane, brought it down to the ground, and called the police.
Then officers sent a bomb disposal robot, and air traffic was suspended for several hours. Later, the threat posed by the drone was neutralized.
Prosecutors said the drone was equipped with “professional explosives and a detonator,” adding that it did not explode only because the detonator was faulty.
Although authorities did not specify the type of explosives, unconfirmed media reports say it was the industrial and military plastic explosive “Semtex.”
“Semtex” was used by fighters and insurgents, including the IRA, and in 1988 it was used to bring down the “Pan Am” Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.
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Prosecutors say the incident in Leipzig was a “serious attack on Germany’s transport and logistics infrastructure,” which could “pose a threat to Germany’s external and internal security.”
Due to the short airport closure, one cargo plane refused the planned landing.
Then this aircraft collided in the air with an unidentified object and later safely landed in Hanover, where “minor aircraft damage” was found.
Later, German police inspected the area near the collision site, searching for remains of this object or other evidence, but so far have not reported any findings.
Germany is the most important supplier of military equipment to Kyiv as Ukraine fights the Russian invasion.
Although the government did not accuse Russia of involvement in the latest incident, opposition politicians pointed the finger at Moscow. Green Party representative Katharina Droge told the newspaper “Welt” that it “could have been an act of Russian state terrorism.”
