The newspaper “Bild” reported that the object found at Leipzig and Halle airport was a drone with a detonator and possibly explosives, detected near a Ukrainian cargo plane, but the police, contacted by the news agency AFP, have not yet confirmed this report.
A local news agency video shows a bomb disposal robot near an “Antonov” plane, with the inscription “Be brave like Kherson” on its side – a reference to the Ukrainian region devastated by Russian strikes.
“Bild” also reported that later another cargo plane collided with an unknown object in the air about six kilometers from the airport but landed safely at Hanover airport. Small damages were reportedly found on the front part of the aircraft.
According to official reports, a passenger plane from Mallorca and several cargo planes flying to Leipzig and Halle airport were to be redirected to other locations when a flying object was spotted near the airport around 11:40 p.m. local time (12:40 a.m. Lithuanian time) on Tuesday.
According to the police, an object was then found near the southern runway, and a bomb disposal robot was sent to the scene.
Officials could not confirm whether the object was detonated or if it was the same object previously spotted, but a police spokesperson told AFP that the incident “poses no danger to the public.”
Normal airport traffic was resumed early Wednesday, but only on the northern runway while investigators searched for evidence on the southern runway.
Germany and other European countries have repeatedly observed cases of drones flying over such facilities as airports, military bases, and power plants.
German institutions, one of Ukraine’s largest military supporters, say they suspect that many of these incidents are organized by Russia as part of a spying, sabotage, and disinformation campaign.
In July 2024, a package caught fire on the ground at Leipzig airport before it could be loaded onto a DHL cargo plane. This was part of a suspected sabotage and arson plan linked to Moscow.
Russia denies involvement in such incidents.
Last year, a Chinese citizen was sentenced for passing information about flight schedules and cargo movements at Leipzig and Halle airport to a man spying for Beijing.
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