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A police investigator works on the tarmac after the discovery of a explosive-laden drone at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany on Aug. 5, 2026. —Jens Schlueter/Getty Images
German officials have suggested “foreign powers” could be behind the explosive-laden drone that was found near a runway at Leipzig/Halle Airport in eastern Germany on Tuesday night.
“We are dealing with a hybrid attack scenario. All measures have been initiated in a highly professional manner,” Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters during a press briefing at the airport late Wednesday, upon the launch of an official counterterrorism investigation.
In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF he elaborated, saying : “We can’t rule out the possibility that foreign powers are behind this.”
Dobrindt did not name any specific “foreign power” and emphasized investigations were ongoing, citing an “excellent collaboration” between state and federal police, along with other authorities.
Germany's Bild newspaper reported that the drone had been found lying near a Ukrainian cargo aircraft. Sueddeutsche Zeitung , another local outlet, on Thursday reported that the cargo plane was carrying military ammunition . A German official later denied the report pertaining to the ammunition finding.
TIME has reached out to Germany’s Interior Ministry, Leipzig/Halle airport, and the Dresden Public Prosecutor's Office for further information.
Leipzig/Halle has served as a European base for Ukraine's Antonov jets since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. The airport is also used by NATO for transportation needs, as well as by the German military.
When contacted about the drone, a NATO official told TIME: “We are aware of the incident, which the German authorities continue to investigate.”
Here’s what to know about the discovery of the device, how German officials have responded so far, and why security concerns are high.
What happened?
Late Tuesday night, local time, police in Leipzig first reported a “sighting of an unidentified object” at Leipzig/Halle Airport.
The object turned out to be a drone armed with explosives and was discovered in a secure cargo area near the southern runway. The authorities swiftly suspended flight operations and deployed a bomb disposal robot to the scene.
After examining the drone, the Federal Police's IED unit was able to successfully remove its detonator.
Separately, a “second, presumably unidentified, flying object collided with a cargo plane after the latter aborted its landing due to the runway being closed,” police said. The cargo plane reportedly belonged to logistics company DHL.
Minor damage was observed on the aircraft after it landed in Hanover, the capital city of Lower Saxony, Germany.
The southern runway at Leipzig/Halle reopened on Wednesday at 6:46 p.m, local time, an airport spokesperson told TIME, adding that “flight operations have been running without restrictions” since then.
What have German officials said about the incident?
Dobrindt said Germany’s authorities are investigating what appears to be “a professional" explosive device. “We are not dealing with amateurs, but with professional actors,” he stated.
Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster told ZDF he would describe the incident as “a suspected attack scenario, because this is the first time we’ve had a drone that was also loaded with explosives.”
German authorities have stated that the perpetrators of the incident at the airport have not yet been identified.
Roderich Kiesewetter, a member of the German Bundestag, said he is “assuming” the incident was a “targeted attack attempt directed by Russia” and suggested Germany “initiate Article 4 consultations in NATO.”
Under Article 4 of NATO, members can bring any issue of concern, especially related to the security of a member country, to the table for discussion within the North Atlantic Council. The article states that “parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of any of them, the territorial integrity, political independence or security of any of the parties is threatened.”
Moscow has yet to publicly comment on the incident. TIME has reached out to the Russian embassy in Berlin for comment.
German police equipped with a robot capable of defusing explosives after the discovery of a drone at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany on Aug. 5, 2026. —Jens Schlueter—Getty Images
How this incident has added to mounting security concerns
The incident comes as Germany is already on high alert following previous unauthorized drone overflights reported near airports, military facilities, and critical infrastructure.
In October 2025, Munich Airport was forced to halt operations for two days due to drone sightings.
Dozens of flights and thousands of passengers were impacted as authorities investigated the sightings. The incident occurred just shortly after Munich’s popular Oktoberfest was forced to temporarily close due to a bomb threat.
The drone sightings served as “yet another wake-up call,” Dobrindt said at the time, noting that “the race between drone threats and drone defenses is getting tougher.”
In a warning to Europe and beyond, he stated: “We need more funding, support, and research now—nationally and at the European level."
By December, Germany had registered over 1,000 suspicious drone flights in 2025, Bild reported, quoting the head of Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
Suspicious sightings continued into the new year, and in May, flights were briefly halted once again at Munich Airport after pilots flagged a possible drone sighting. On-site investigations by the Federal Police uncovered no suspicious findings.
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