BERLIN (AP) 鈥� For the second time in just over two years, Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport might have narrowly avoided disaster, exposing the vulnerability of Europe鈥檚 critical infrastructure.
late Tuesday at the airport and later defused. The country鈥檚 top security official said the incident was a 鈥渘ew threat quality鈥� and indicated it was 鈥減rofessionally鈥� prepared.
Separately, 鈥渁n object鈥� collided with a plane Tuesday night, police said. The plane was intact but suffered minor damage.
In 2024, an incendiary device ignited at a logistics center at the airport and set fire to a freight container, part of a plot that was organized by Russian intelligence.
Leipzig/Halle is a major international freight hub. The planes that regularly use it include Ukrainian Antonov transport aircraft.
Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann noted on X that 鈥淟eipzig Airport is one of Europe鈥檚 most important hubs for providing support to Ukraine. It is home to NATO鈥檚 SALIS program for strategic airlift. Ukrainian Antonov Airlines has its operational base here.鈥�
SALIS is NATO’s Strategic Airlift International Solution. Nine members of the military alliance lease a small group of heavy-lift cargo planes from Antonov.
SALIS has been used across the world from Darfur to Afghanistan and is currently operational almost every day in delivering equipment to NATO battle groups along its eastern flank from Finland to Romania and supporting EU and alliance nation missions.
Here鈥檚 what else to know:
Western officials have accused Moscow of running sabotage campaigns against Europe
Although German officials have not pointed to Russia in this case, Moscow has been widely accused by Western officials of running a campaign of sabotage and disruption across Europe with the aim of undermining support for Ukraine and destabilizing European nations.
Officials have accused Russia of organizing plots to , and as well as and carrying out
In May, President Vladimir Putin responded to the findings of an Associated Press investigation which has tracked around 200 incidents of disruption across Europe blamed on Russia by Western officials since the invasion of Ukraine. He said Moscow against Europe and demanded that AP 鈥渘ame one proven fact.鈥�
Russia has been accused of drone plots in the past
Russia has previously been accused of involvement in plots to use explosives hung from drones. A Ukrainian citizen accused of involvement in the 2024 plot to put explosives on DHL cargo planes traveled to a Lithuanian cemetery in mid-2024 where he dug up a cache of items buried by Russian military intelligence, including
The explosives could have hung from the drones as improvised bombs and were destined for the German city of Dusseldorf during the Euro 2024 football championship, Jacek Dobrzy艅ski, spokesperson for Poland鈥檚 security minister, told AP last year.
The investigation into the explosives plot involved many countries across Europe.
German police press on with investigations
The drone with 鈥渁n unknown explosive device鈥� was found by an airport employee near the south runway, police said, adding it was being examined after having its detonator removed. An investigation was underway.
Meanwhile, investigators started a search on Thursday surrounding the airport for debris from the object that hit a freight plane.
鈥淲e are setting out to look for the object that collided with the plane,鈥� spokesperson Kay Anders from the Saxony State Criminal Police Office told The Associated Press, adding that police officers would be deployed for a thorough search of the premises.
The collision happened after the plane aborted a landing at Leipzig/Halle because the runway was closed. The plane flew to another German airport, Hannover, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) to the northwest, where officials found slight damage.
The plane is still in Hannover, but Anders would not say what kind of damage the plane had suffered, citing the ongoing investigation.
Top security official says the incidents don’t suggest 鈥渁mateur work鈥�
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt interrupted his vacation and rushed to the airport Wednesday night for a briefing by investigators.
He later told reporters that while drone sightings and drone threats are something Germany has dealt with in the past, 鈥渢hat a drone armed with explosives is at an airport is a new threat scenario.鈥�
Dobrindt described what happened as 鈥渁 hybrid attack scenario,鈥� but didn鈥檛 offer more details of authorities鈥� assessment or specify who might be responsible.
But he said it was reasonable to believe that such situations 鈥渕ust be very professionally prepared and implemented,鈥� with technical know-how and experience of dealing with explosives.
鈥淎ll this doesn鈥檛 point to amateur work,鈥� Dobrindt added.
Germany鈥檚 drone defense challenged
Dobrindt said Germany has a mobile drone defense unit and that there is drone defense technology at airports, but the explosive-laden drone was 鈥渃onceived in such a way, according to what we know at present, precisely to be able to get around drone defense.鈥� He didn鈥檛 elaborate.
鈥淎 few months ago, I also made it clear to the public that we need to raise the threat level 鈥� moving away from an abstract threat to a high-level threat,鈥� he said Wednesday. 鈥淎nd this is evident right now: the assessment we made months ago 鈥� that we are facing a high-level threat 鈥� is a reality.鈥�
Neumann, the terrorism expert, added on X that 鈥渟uspicious drones have only been appearing in significant numbers in Germany since Russia鈥檚 full-scale invasion in February 2022. The targets are almost always the Bundeswehr, the defense industry, and logistics hubs鈥攊n other words, precisely the infrastructure that is central to support for Ukraine.鈥� The Bundeswehr is Germany鈥檚 armed forces.
___
Associated Press journalists Emma Burrows in London and Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed reporting.
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
