Drone Carrying Explosives Found at German Airport Near Ukrainian Cargo Planes

A drone carrying an explosive device was discovered near parked Ukrainian cargo planes at Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany early Wednesday, Saxon police confirmed. A specialised robot was deployed to remove the detonator before a controlled explosion was carried out. The incident has been described as a 'very serious security incident' by Saxony's Interior Minister Armin Schuster.

What happened at Leipzig airport

An airport employee spotted the drone near aircraft belonging to Ukraine's Antonov Airlines — which carries most of Ukraine's aerial cargo — overnight. Police secured the area and dispatched a bomb-disposal robot to neutralise the device. Shortly after, a second unidentified object collided in mid-air with a cargo aircraft near the same airport; minor damage was detected when the plane landed in Hanover.

Flights on the northern runway were suspended before resuming at around 01:55 local time. The southern runway remained closed as of this report. Leipzig/Halle is a major hub for DHL logistics and also serves as a staging post for German military and NATO operations supporting Ukraine.

Suspicion points to Russia

Ukraine's Ambassador to Germany Oleksii Makeiev left little doubt about the suspected perpetrators: 'Who else could it be but Russia?' he told Welt TV. Russia has not commented. Security experts note that similar drone incidents over sensitive German infrastructure — military bases, airports, energy terminals and seaports — have occurred exclusively since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Professor Peter R. Neumann of King's College London wrote on X: 'Since last night, the drone war has reached Germany. And it exposes a weakness that we've known about for years.' In July 2024, a package fire at the same airport disrupted DHL operations; German authorities later confirmed the packages contained explosive devices concealed inside vibrating massage pillows, suspected to be Russian sabotage.

Pattern of hybrid warfare

German authorities have put airports on high alert following a series of unauthorised drone overflights over sensitive sites in recent months. Last year a Chinese woman was convicted of passing flight schedule and cargo movement data at Leipzig/Halle to a spy working for Beijing, highlighting the airport's strategic value as a target for adversarial intelligence operations.