The discovery of a drone with explosives at Leipzig airport is a leading topic in Western publications. Sky News points out, citing local authorities, that a “serious attack” was carried out against Germany.
The incident is unprecedented because it is the first time a drone with explosives has flown so far from the front in Ukraine - in the heart of Europe.
Bomb disposal experts removed a detonator from the device at Leipzig/Halle airport after reports of flying objects closed both runways late on Tuesday.
The head of the German intelligence said the incident was “professionally“ prepared and showed “a new quality of threat“. Federal prosecutors called it “a serious attack on the transport and logistics infrastructure in Germany“, which is capable of undermining “external and internal security“.
There are conflicting reports on whether the Ukrainian Antonov transport plane, next to which the drone was discovered, was carrying munitions.
The German newspaper “Bild“ cited an unnamed source as saying that a technical defect prevented the device from exploding. Ukrainian planes regularly use Leipzig, a major cargo hub and base for a NATO program that helps deliver equipment to the eastern flank near Russia.
German airports are already on alert after drones were spotted over sensitive areas. Military facilities, energy terminals, seaports and logistics companies have reported drone overflights in recent months. Russia is the main suspect after Western agencies accused it of being behind a series of devices hidden in shipments that caught fire in 2024, including one in a logistics center at Leipzig airport.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz convened the National Security Council over the drone incident at Leipzig/Halle airport, WELT reported. The National Security Council was set up last year and aims to consolidate expertise in the field of domestic and foreign security within the federal government.
Photos published in German newspapers show a quadcopter with a design familiar from the war in Ukraine, with a package attached. It is standing motionless a few meters from a Ukrainian “Antonov” cargo plane with easily recognizable yellow-and-blue markings. Authorities in Germany are continuing their investigation in the case, which passed without injuries or casualties.
German media noted that the attached bomb contained the powerful explosive PETN and the plastic explosive “Semtex” - the ammunition that exploded on the “Pan Am” plane over Lockerbie. But the bomb attached to the drone did not explode because the detonator was defective. “The Guardian” quoted the local newspaper “Leipziger Volkszeitung” as saying that police found up to 800 grams of explosive, which would have been “sufficient to cause significant damage” to an aircraft, BTA reported. Leipzig airport is a sensitive site - a European base for Ukrainian “Antonov” planes used for heavy loads. The airport is also used by NATO and the German military for transport.