Germany on Tuesday formally accused Russia of carrying out an explosive-drone attack at Leipzig airport last month and announced the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn and a Russian cultural center in Berlin in response.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the August 4 incident fit Russia’s pattern of “hybrid operations,” adding that the German government had “come to the conclusion that Russia is responsible for the hybrid attack.”
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the Russian consulate in Bonn would be ordered to close from September 18, along with the Russian House cultural center in Berlin.
“There is no overreaction on our part, but there is a response when we are attacked,” Wadephul said earlier Tuesday. “Russia must understand that Germany is a stabilizing force in Europe, one that is always ready for negotiations, but under no circumstances will be deterred.”
The accusation came nearly a month after an explosive drone was discovered near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft at Leipzig airport. The plane was carrying military ammunition, and German authorities suspect the drone failed to detonate only because of a technical malfunction.
The discovery forced departures and arrivals at the airport, one of Germany’s major cargo hubs, to be halted temporarily and flights to be diverted. Authorities later said a DHL aircraft redirected to Hanover reported being struck by an unidentified object about 400 meters from Leipzig airport, raising suspicion that a second drone may have been involved.
Russia has not yet responded to Germany’s formal accusation. The Russian Embassy in Berlin previously dismissed allegations of Russian involvement as a “fabricated provocation” and part of what it called a “new wave of anti-Russian hysteria in Germany.”
The announcement came on the same day German authorities opened a separate investigation into suspected sabotage of power infrastructure in Brandenburg, although officials have not linked that incident to Russia.
The damage occurred at a substation in Turnow-Preilack near the Jänschwalde coal-fired power station, which has a capacity of about 1,500 megawatts and is Germany’s fourth-largest coal plant.
Police said they were alerted at around 8 a.m. and found at least one unexploded incendiary device at the scene. Damage to several power lines caused a brief outage before electricity was fully restored.
German media reported that improvised explosive devices and components resembling homemade rockets or pyrotechnics were found at the site. Bild reported that at least one explosion occurred, although a police spokeswoman stressed: “We are not talking about rockets here.”
Jänschwalde Power Station in Brandenburg, eastern Germany
(Photo: John MACDOUGALL / AFP)
The Märkische Allgemeine Zeitung, citing security and industry sources, said emergency crews found several components for devices carrying explosives and that the substation may have been struck more than once. Investigators were examining whether the attackers intended to trigger a wider blackout.
The site is considered particularly sensitive because electricity generated at Jänschwalde passes through the substation before entering the transmission grid.
There is currently no indication who carried out the Brandenburg attack. While European governments have accused Moscow of conducting sabotage and disruption operations as part of a wider campaign against countries supporting Ukraine, Germany has also experienced domestic attacks on energy infrastructure.
Earlier this year, far-left anarchists damaged Berlin’s electricity network, leaving neighborhoods in the southwest of the capital without power for several days during freezing weather. The Volcano Group claimed responsibility for that attack and has also been suspected of carrying out an arson attack that disrupted production at Tesla’s Berlin-area factory in 2024.
The Leipzig case comes amid a broader wave of unexplained drone activity over civilian airports and strategic sites across Europe. Intelligence officials have increasingly assessed that Russian agencies may be behind some of the incidents, with the aim of disrupting transport, spreading fear and weakening European support for Ukraine.
Some German officials have argued that such incidents should no longer be described merely as “hybrid” operations. Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a German member of the European Parliament who chairs its security and defense committee, has called them “real attacks.”
Separately, Polish authorities said Tuesday that deliberate sabotage was likely behind a fire at a WB Electronics facility in Skarżysko-Kamienna, a plant that produces drones used by the Ukrainian military.
“Everything points to this being an act of sabotage,” Polish Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński said.
Polish prosecutors are also examining whether foreign intelligence services were involved in the blaze, which caused damage estimated at about 15 million zlotys, roughly $4 million.
First published: 18:32, 09.01.26