Germany\u2019s government said an investigation found that Russia is behind a failed drone attack at an airport in Leipzig last month and that the Kremlin is likely to step up hybrid aggression.<\/p>\n
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul announced the shuttering of Russia\u2019s consulate in Bonn, the former seat of government of West Germany, this month and the cancellation of a contract with a key Russian cultural center in Berlin. The country will tighten border controls for Russian nationals.<\/p>\n
The activity on German soil indicates a readiness by Moscow to inflict \u201cgreater damage,\u201d Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said.<\/p>\n
Read more: Russia\u2019s Escalating Hybrid Attacks Put Europeans in a Bind<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cRussia shows no willingness to reach an understanding,\u201d Wadephul told reporters in Berlin. \u201cOn the contrary: with the attempted attack in Leipzig, the Russian leadership has deliberately chosen to inflict further significant damage on our already severely strained bilateral relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n The move by German authorities marks a significant deterioration in relations between Berlin and Moscow more than four years after Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Chancellor Friedrich Merz had said last week that the attempted drone attack on the logistics hub for deliveries to Ukraine represented a new level of hybrid warfare \u2014 and perpetrators \u201cwill pay a price.\u201d<\/p>\n Germany will get \u201ca fitting response\u201d to its decisions on closing Russian facilities, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the state-run Tass news service.<\/p>\n \u201cUnder a completely far-fetched and contrived pretext, Berlin has once again escalated bilateral relations,\u201d Zakharova said. \u201cAs usual, no convincing or serious evidence has been presented. There simply isn\u2019t any.\u201d<\/p>\n Authorities in Berlin had stopped short of pointing the finger at Russia as the investigation proceeded and as talks with European Union officials took place to forge a response. Wadephul said EU authorities are developing a new list of individuals to be targeted by sanctions.<\/p>\n Germany is determined to continue and expand its military support for Ukraine, especially in areas where it hurts Russia the most, including more interceptor missiles and strike drones for Ukraine, senior officials said in Berlin on condition of anonymity in line with government protocol.<\/p>\n The failed attack at Leipzig-Halle airport forced the hub to divert several aircraft after a drone laden with explosives was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane. Investigators identified three drones at the airport: the first hit the wing of the plane, while two others were found in nearby fields, the officials said.<\/p>\n The drone\u2019s configuration, parts and the type of explosive \u2014 as well as the expertise behind the planning \u2014 indicated Russian involvement, Dobrindt said.<\/p>\n Read more: German DHL Cargo Plane Hits Object as Drone Found at Leipzig Airport<\/a><\/p>\n The drone incident, together with an ongoing investigation into the possible link between foreign security agents and a cache of weapons found on the outskirts of Berlin last year, have put Europe\u2019s biggest economy on high alert.<\/p>\n NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte expressed solidarity, saying the evidence that Germany presented was \u201cclear.\u201d European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen issued a similar statement, signaling bloc-wide coordination.<\/p>\n \u201cRussia is seeking to sow distrust and fear among our societies,\u201d von der Leyen said on X. \u201cBut it will fail. And we still stand by Ukraine for as long as it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n There have been an increasing number of alleged Kremlin provocations in Europe involving drones, explosions and damaged undersea cables.<\/p>\n On Tuesday, in a separate incident, the sabotage of electricity infrastructure in eastern Germany caused a brief disruption to the transmission network as well as a power-plant outage. Unknown perpetrators damaged several lines.<\/p>\n Photograph: Police investigators work on the tarmac at Leipzig-Halle Airport on Aug. 5, 2026; photo credit: Jens Schlueter\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Related:<\/p>\n Copyright 2026 Bloomberg.<\/p>\n \n Topics Interested in Drones?<\/p>\n Get automatic alerts for this topic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Germany\u2019s government said an investigation found that Russia is behind a failed drone attack at an airport in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":83228,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[29536,5,10243,492,60147,60167],"class_list":["post-83227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-germany","tag-geopolitical-risks","tag-germany","tag-hybrid-attacks","tag-russia-ukraine-war","tag-state-sponsored-terrorism","tag-terrorism-and-sabotage-insurance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83227\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/83228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n Russia<\/a>
\n Drones<\/a>\n <\/p>\n