BERLIN (AP) \u2014 For the second time in just over two years, Germany\u2019s Leipzig\/Halle Airport has narrowly avoided a potential disaster, exposing the vulnerability of Europe\u2019s critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n
A drone carrying explosives was found<\/a> late Tuesday at the airport and later defused. The country\u2019s top security official said the incident was a \u201cnew threat quality\u201d and indicated it was \u201cprofessionally\u201d prepared. <\/p>\n Separately, \u201can object\u201d collided with a plane Tuesday night, police said. The plane suffered only minor damage.<\/p>\n On Thursday night, federal prosecutors, who handle significant national security cases, took over the case from state prosecutors. They said the incident \u201cconstitutes a serious attack on the transportation and logistics infrastructure in Germany\u201d which is \u201ccapable of undermining the external and internal security\u201d of the country.<\/p>\n 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 Western security officials suspect<\/a> was organized by Russian intelligence. <\/p>\n Leipzig\/Halle is a major hub for international freight and for providing support to Ukraine. The planes that regularly use it include Ukrainian Antonov transport aircraft. <\/p>\n It is also home to NATO\u2019s Strategic Airlift International Solution, or SALIS, which 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. <\/p>\n Here\u2019s what else to know:<\/p>\n Western officials have accused Moscow of sabotage campaigns against Europe<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Officials have accused Russia of organizing plots to set fire to warehouses<\/a>, launching drones<\/a> and trying to kill enemies abroad<\/a> as well as stealing defense technology<\/a> and carrying out cyberattacks on critical European infrastructure.<\/a><\/p>\n In May, Russian 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 is not waging a sabotage campaign<\/a> against Europe and demanded that AP \u201cname one proven fact.\u201d<\/p>\n Russia has been accused of drone plots in the past<\/p>\n 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 drone parts and cans of corn filled with explosives.<\/a><\/p>\n