The German government said on Tuesday that it had concluded Russia was responsible for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport last month and announced a series of measures in response, including the closure of a Russian consulate and a cultural centre in Berlin.<\/p>\n
Nato and European countries rallied behind Berlin over what Germany described as part of a broader pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe.<\/p>\n
The German government said on Tuesday that it had concluded Russia was responsible for the attempted attack and announced measures including the closure of Russia\u2019s consulate general in Bonn and the termination of Germany\u2019s agreement with the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin.<\/p>\n
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said intelligence findings indicated that individuals involved in the attack had acted on behalf of Russian state agencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaken together, police investigations, patterns of the offences and intelligence findings establish Russian responsibility for the attempted attack at Leipzig Airport,\u201d Dobrindt said.<\/p>\n
Standing alongside Dobrindt, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany did not view the Leipzig incident as an isolated case.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt fits into a broader pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe,\u201d Wadephul said.<\/p>\n
Wadephul said Germany\u2019s response would include closing Russia\u2019s consulate general in Bonn and terminating its agreement with the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin.<\/p>\n
\u201cGermany remains secure, and Germany will defend itself against adversaries who seek to create insecurity,\u201d Wadephul said. \u201cWe will not allow Russia\u2019s attacks to divide or intimidate us in our social cohesion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Russia said it would respond to Germany\u2019s measures. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described Berlin\u2019s move as an \u201canti-Russian action\u201d, according to Interfax news agency, but did not elaborate.<\/p>\n
The Russian Embassy in Berlin had previously dismissed the accusations as a \u201cfabricated provocation\u201d and described them as \u201ca new wave of anti-Russian hysteria in Germany\u201d.<\/p>\n
NATO, EUROPEAN COUNTRIES RALLY BEHIND GERMANY<\/p>\n
Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte said he had spoken with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and that NATO stood in \u201cfull solidarity\u201d with Germany after what he called the Russian hybrid attack in Leipzig on August 4.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe evidence is clear,\u201d Rutte said, adding that he welcomed the measures announced by Germany in response.<\/p>\n
Rutte said Nato would continue to strengthen its ability to deter and defend all allies against any threat, including \u201cmalign actions\u201d such as those seen in Leipzig and elsewhere across the alliance.<\/p>\n
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she would discuss the attack on Wednesday with Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte, while EU foreign ministers would prepare a joint response.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking forward to discussing collective countermeasures at the Gymnich meeting in Ireland tonight and tomorrow,\u201d Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski said on X. \u201cFull solidarity with Germany.\u201d<\/p>\n
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Italy stood in \u201cfull solidarity\u201d with Germany after the Russian hybrid attack in Leipzig.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe security of our Allies is the security of us all,\u201d Meloni said, adding that attempts to intimidate allies or drive a wedge between them would not succeed.<\/p>\n
Meloni said hybrid actions against any one ally were a matter of concern for all and would be met with a united response. She said it was essential at such times to remain steadfast, continue working closely together and maintain a credible deterrence posture to defend citizens\u2019 security.<\/p>\n
Finnish President Alexander Stubb said Finland stood in \u201cfull solidarity\u201d with its ally Germany after what he called the Russian hybrid attack in Leipzig.<\/p>\n
Stubb said Finland knew the \u201cRussian playbook\u201d, which he said attempted to intimidate European countries and undermine their resolve and willingness to support Ukraine in its defence against Russia\u2019s invasion.<\/p>\n
French President Emmanuel Macron also expressed solidarity with Germany, saying Germany had established Russia\u2019s responsibility for the serious incidents that occurred in Leipzig in early August.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese hybrid attacks are multiplying in Europe. They cannot go unanswered,\u201d Macron said.<\/p>\n
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in a statement that Britain stood with Germany and that any Russian attempts to undermine support for Ukraine were \u201cdoomed to fail\u201d.<\/p>\n
Wadephul said Germany would \u201ccontinue its civilian and military support for Ukraine and will resolutely continue its solidarity with Ukraine in its defence against Russia\u2019s war of aggression\u201d.<\/p>\n
– Ends<\/p>\n
Published By: <\/p>\n
Akshat Trivedi<\/p>\n
Published On: <\/p>\n
Sep 2, 2026 00:47 IST<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The German government said on Tuesday that it had concluded Russia was responsible for an attempted drone attack…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12759,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7605,7606,7608,7604,1879,6989,7610,7607,7609],"class_list":["post-12758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-alexander-dobrindt","tag-bonn-russian-consulate-closure","tag-eu-sanctions-on-russia","tag-germany-russia-tensions","tag-johann-wadephul","tag-leipzig-airport-drone-attack","tag-russia-shadow-fleet","tag-russian-house-berlin","tag-russian-hybrid-operations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12758","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12758\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/nato\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}