A police officer in protective clothing walks next to an explosive-disarming robot at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Schkeuditz, Germany, on Aug. 5.Axel Schmidt/Reuters
Even in a summer of heightened tensions between Russia and the West, the Aug. 4 incident at Germany’s Leipzig/Halle Airport stuck out.
A military-style drone was found on a runway that night, not far from a cargo plane owned by the Ukrainian government. The drone was armed with explosives that had failed to detonate, but another bomb-laden drone was later discovered nearby.
It’s not hard to imagine what could have happened if the drones had struck a civilian aircraft.
It took almost a month for the German government to announce what seemed obvious from the outset: The Kremlin was behind the attempted attack on Leipzig/Halle, which serves as an important logistics hub for the NATO alliance. When Berlin directly accused Moscow Tuesday, it raised the question of whether and how Germany and NATO will respond as Russia escalates from “hybrid war” to something closer to all-out confrontation.
Germany blames Russia for attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport last month
The term “hybrid warfare” first emerged 12 years ago, in the wake of Russia’s seizure and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. It’s an intentionally vague term, intended to capture the vast range of hostile actions Russia has been accused of carrying out in Western countries, from airspace incursions in the Baltic states and Poland to election interference in the United States, Germany and elsewhere.
The assessment in Western capitals has been that Moscow doesn’t want all-out war but is seeking to destabilize the democracies that have thrown their support behind Ukraine. The hybrid attacks have escalated since 2022 with the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a war that NATO has become deeply involved in, providing weapons and intelligence to Kyiv.
Even though nobody was hurt, many see the Leipzig incident as fundamentally different from previous provocations attributed to the Kremlin. There’s a sense in much of Europe that Russia, with its army bogged down in Ukraine, is seeking to expand the theatre of war in order to force countries such as Germany to worry more about their own defence and stop aiding Kyiv.
“Russia’s hybrid attacks against us − not hybrid anymore. They’re very kinetic,” Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister Kestutis Budrys said Wednesday. Lithuania has seen Russian dissidents attacked on its soil and its main airport forced to close repeatedly because of giant balloons launched from the territory of Belarus, a Russian ally.
“We have to consider what options we have in our hands and respond. Because it is obvious Russia does not see the political cost of their hybrid activities against us. So, for them, this is the cheap way to make tensions in our society.”
EU vows more pressure on Russia after attempted drone attack at airport in Germany
On Wednesday, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper reported that two suspects had been identified in connection with the Leipzig incident. One was described as a Russian-born Latvian national, while the other is said to be a Russian national from Belarus.
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the incident bore “all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism.” She added: “The question is, what do we do about this?”
The answer, so far, has largely come in the diplomatic sphere. German Foreign Affairs Minister Johann Wadephul announced Tuesday that Berlin would close the Russian House cultural centre in the capital, as well as the Russian consulate in the city of Bonn. And Germany and the EU are expected to announce another round of sanctions targeting Russian businesses and individuals.
Some see the punishments as far too lenient for the crime. Stefan Thumann, the head of German defence company Donaustahl – which has been manufacturing drones for the Ukrainian military – went so far as to declare that “Germany and Russia are at war” in a Tuesday interview with podcaster Paul Ronzheimer.
Mr. Thumann has been living under police protection since late last year, when he was informed of what he says is a Russian plot to kill him.
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Rather than seeking to turn down the temperature in the dispute with Germany, Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who now serves as deputy head of the country’s National Security Council, issued new threats. He accused Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government of fabricating the Leipzig incident, while at the same time saying that such sabotage would have been “the mildest form of retribution” for Germany’s military support for Ukraine.
“They deserve a direct strike against all German facilities manufacturing military hardware” for Ukraine, Mr. Medvedev wrote on Telegram. “And, quite possibly, against certain other locations in Berlin as well.”
On Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin raised alarm in London when he dodged a question about whether he might order strikes on Britain in response to the U.K.’s military support for Ukraine. “That’s a secret, a military secret,” he replied.
Now that the United States has ended direct military support for Ukraine, Germany and Britain have become Kyiv’s biggest foreign supporters. NATO is also at its weakest state in decades, with U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth reviewing plans to dramatically scale back his country’s military presence in Europe.
Canada has also been threatened for producing weapons for Ukraine. Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova referred to Canada as “a warmonger” after Ottawa and Kyiv announced a deal in May that will see Hamilton-based Sentinel R&D produce drones for use by the Ukrainian military.
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Ms. Zakharova vowed in a June news conference that Russia would publicize the location of the Sentinel plant and “will take these new circumstances into consideration in the course of our military and political planning.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, who was in Ireland on Wednesday to attend a meeting of EU foreign affairs ministers – the first time Canada has taken part in such a gathering – condemned Russia’s alleged involvement in the Leipzig incident and said Canada would stand by its allies.
“Russia must not be allowed to undermine the security of NATO member states,” Ms. Anand posted on social media ahead of the meeting. “Canada is prepared to do our part to protect our collective security.”