Drone with explosives found near Ukrainian cargo plane shuts Leipzig Airport

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Drone with explosives found near Ukrainian cargo plane shuts Leipzig Airport
Drone with explosives found near Ukrainian cargo plane at German airport prompts shutdown
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A drone fitted with explosives was found near a Ukrainian cargo aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany, prompting a temporary shutdown of the facility and diversions of multiple flights, according to German police and prosecutors.
The incident unfolded late on July 28, when airport staff spotted the drone hovering at low altitude between two Antonov cargo planes at around 23:42, according to a confidential police report cited by European Pravda. Investigators said the drone made contact with an employee before landing on the ground. CCTV footage reviewed by authorities showed the drone entered the airport from the south as early as 19:28 and did not take off again, WDR, NDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung reported.
German media, including Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR, reported that one of the Antonov aircraft near the drone was loaded with ammunition transported from France to Leipzig shortly beforehand, likely intended for onward shipment. However, Germany’s Interior Ministry later denied these reports in a briefing for parliamentary coordinators, stating no ammunition was on board the aircraft, according to dpa and Focus magazine.
Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described the incident as a "hybrid attack scenario" and said the perpetrators likely modified the drone to bypass the airport’s protection systems. He has invited European counterparts to a meeting at the Mürwik Naval Academy in Flensburg at the end of August to coordinate a joint defense strategy against drones and protect critical infrastructure, his ministry confirmed.
A second object, possibly another drone, may have collided with a DHL cargo aircraft near the airport fence at a speed of about 500 km/h, causing minor damage to the plane’s nose, internal agency reports said. The DHL aircraft later landed safely at Hanover Airport. A Marabu Airlines passenger flight from Palma de Mallorca was diverted to Nuremberg before eventually reaching Leipzig.
Airport operations resumed on the northern runway early Wednesday, while the southern runway remained closed for investigation. Bomb disposal specialists used a robot to examine and defuse the explosive device found on the drone. Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, suggested Russia could be behind the incident, telling Welt TV, "Who else could it be but Russia?"
Leipzig/Halle Airport serves as a key logistics hub for military transport, including operations by the German military and NATO allies, and has been used by Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
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