Drone hit the plane's wing: Suspicion of a terror attempt at the airport in Germany strengthens

New details regarding the explosive drone incident at Leipzig Airport in eastern Germany strengthen the assessment that this was not a "warning" but an attempt to damage a Ukrainian cargo plane, German media reports today (Monday).

According to reports based on security camera footage, the drone flew directly toward the plane last Tuesday evening and hit one of its wings, rather than just approaching it. Investigators estimate that the standard explosive material it carried did not detonate due to a malfunction in the ignition mechanism.

The drone, to which an explosive device and a detonator were attached, was discovered around midnight last Tuesday in the secure area of the cargo terminal at Leipzig Airport, a few meters from Ukrainian Antonov cargo planes. The airport is one of the central logistics hubs for Western support to Ukraine.

The drone was not a commercial model sold on the open market but was manufactured specifically in a professional manner, which is why standard detection devices failed to identify it. Earlier, the German public broadcaster ZDF and "Bild" reported that cellular antennas were installed on the drone and two SIM cards were found inside. Investigators are checking whether they were used to control the device, to activate the release mechanism, or both. The implication is that the drone could have been operated from a great distance, provided the operator had an internet connection.

According to a report in the German media outlet "Die Zeit", the footage clarifies that the drone did not approach the plane cautiously but with a clear intent to hit it. Until now, one of the investigative hypotheses was that the drone was intended to serve as a warning only, but this is now difficult to maintain. The wings are considered particularly sensitive parts of the plane, as fuel tanks are usually located inside them, and anyone seeking to blow up a plane would target them.

According to the footage, the drone hit the wing, bounced off, and fell to the ground, and the explosive charge detached upon impact. The drone lay on the runway for about four hours until a bus driver noticed it by chance. Contrary to previous versions suggesting he kicked it out of the air, the footage shows the drone was already on the ground when the driver arrived; after a short hesitation, he placed his foot on it and called security personnel.

According to "Bild", the explosive charge was a tin can emptied and filled with standard Semtex-type explosive.

Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who arrived at the airport the day after the incident, stated that this is a "new level of danger" and a "hybrid attack scenario," requiring significant technical expertise. "All this does not indicate amateur conduct. We are talking here about a professional hybrid threat situation that we will have to continue to deal with," he said. Dobrindt did not explicitly blame any country but noted he does not rule out the involvement of "foreign powers."

This is not the first incident of its kind in Leipzig. In July 2024, a DHL package caught fire at the airport shortly before it was to be loaded onto a plane bound for the UK. That same week, another package exploded in a truck in Poland and a third caught fire in a warehouse in Birmingham. According to Lithuanian prosecution authorities, the packages were sent from Vilnius by Russian citizens with ties to Russian military intelligence, and Polish prosecutors described it as a "rehearsal" before sending similar cargoes to the USA and Canada.

On Friday, the Russian Embassy in Berlin rejected the latest Leipzig incident, calling it a "fabricated provocation" and "baseless accusations."

Last November, a railway track was blown up in Poland on the line between Warsaw and Lublin, used for transporting military aid to Ukraine. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it an "unprecedented act of sabotage" using C4 military-grade explosive activated by a 300-meter electric cable. Two suspects were identified—Ukrainian citizens who had acted for years in the service of Russian intelligence and fled to Belarus. The Kremlin rejected the accusations.