German security services are urgently investigating a series of apparently related incidents at Leipzig airport, including an armed explosive drone and a potential second drone striking a cargo jet mid-air, with Russia considered a potential suspect.
Leipzig-Halle Airport was closed to air traffic, and incoming flights were diverted overnight into Wednesday after what transpired to be a military-grade explosives-armed drone was found by chance and brought down by hand by a have-a-go hero. The potential for the airport having narrowly avoided a potential multi-vector attack became clear as the drone was found flying low on the airport grounds, a second presumed drone collided with a cargo plane flying nearby, and an “object” was found on the runway, all in rapid succession.
LEIPZIG, GERMANY – AUGUST 5: Police investigators work on the tarmac near to Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport on August 5, 2026 near Leipzig, Germany. Airport workers reportedly discovered a drone yesterday on the tarmac near an Antonov at the airport that was equipped with an explosives detonator and an unidentified substance. Additionally, a DHL cargo plane that took off from the airport late last night collided with a small object, causing minor damage. (Photo by Jens Schlueter/Getty Images)
Germany’s Zeit newspaper reports an extraordinary situation in which, according to sources at Leipzig airport, a bus driver taking a group of tourists who had paid for an airport-by-night experience around the runways spotted a quadcopter-type drone hovering at low altitude. The man is reported to have pulled the bus over and physically restrained the drone by hand, pinning it to the ground with his own body weight while calling in the discovery to authorities.
The appearance of a drone at the airport, as allegedly discovered by chance by the bus driver, triggered a full alert that saw all aircraft on approach diverted to their backup airports. Per a sperate report in Die Welt, it was at this time that a DHL cargo jet, on approach to Leipzig-Halle, pulled out of its descent to divert and was then struck head-on by a second flying object.
The damage to the nosecone of the jet was relatively minimal, and the DHL plane was able to land safely elsewhere. The remains of what it struck have yet to be found on the ground, but it is stated that police are considering the possibility that the aircraft was hit by a second drone.
Shortly after, a third incident was recorded as an “object” — and police have not yet stated what it was — was discovered on the southern runway at Leipzig. The Welt report notes that, given the airport is a secure state with no public access to the runways, a working hypothesis among investigators is that this mysterious “object” on the runway may have been air-dropped by a drone.
After these events, specialist bomb officers investigated the first drone, which had been intercepted by hand on the airport apron next to a group of parked Ukrainian cargo aircraft, which had been moved there to protect them for the duration of the war. Officers discovered that it was carrying not only explosives and a detonator, but after subsequent testing, the explosive mix was not a home-made concoction known on the European terrorism scene as first supposed, but military-grade ‘Semtex’.
Responding to events, the mayor of Leipzig called the incident a “new level” of threat, while the state interior minister called it a “very serious security incident”. The Federal Interior Minister has cut his summer vacation short to travel to Leipzig and supervise the response.
Police and the security services are reported to be internally considering Russia as a potential suspect in the alleged attempted attack, given both Leipzig airport’s major role in the logistics of Western support to the Ukrainian war effort against the Russian invasion and the fact that Leipzig was the site of another attempted attack in 2024.
The Ukrainian ambassador to Germany made these suspicions more explicit on Wednesday afternoon and is reported to have postulated: “Who else could it be besides Russia? Russia has been waging this hybrid war for a long time now. And the word ‘hybrid’ downplays the fact that Russia is waging war not only against Ukraine, but also against Europe.”
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