La policía alemana desactiva un dron bomba que cayó junto a un avión de carga ucranio en el aeropuerto de Leipzig

German police defused a bomb drone that plummeted near a Ukrainian freight plane at Leipzig airport on Tuesday night. The device, which was presumably destined to strike Ukrainian freight planes, malfunctioned during its descent due to a faulty detonator. A newspaper report indicated that an airport employee was the first to spot the drone flying low and somehow managed to cause it to crash.

Leipzig airport is a major air transportation hub for Ukraine as its skies are closed due to the Russian invasion. The drone was found in a sector of the airport where between four and six Ukrainian state freight planes were parked. Recent images of the airport suggest this could be one of the largest freight planes in the world, the Antonov 124.

Police officers deactivated the threat by disconnecting the explosive charge from the drone. A second drone was detected as it approached the airport, hitting a DHL freight plane that had aborted its landing, according to Bild and later confirmed by both the company's CEO, Tobias Meyer, and the Saxon state police. The plane managed to land safely at Hannover airport.

The government considers the incident so serious that the interior cabinet has convened a press conference at the last minute on Wednesday. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has suspended his vacation to travel to Leipzig and meet with the head of the federal secret service and police. "We are dealing with a very concerning case of a security threat," Dobrindt stated, "we are facing a new scenario of attack, a new level of danger."

The Interior Minister said the drone has been identified, without providing further details. The device disarmed by the bomb squad was reportedly a four-rotor personal drone with a small explosive charge attached, a commercially available device that can be easily acquired. Such drones are commonly used in the war zone in Ukraine as projectiles against soldiers or vehicles.

Against an airplane, they can cause minor damage, except if they directly hit full fuel tanks. Their range from the pilot, depending on the model, can be between 5 to 15 kilometers. The federal police have not disclosed any indication of the possible attacker, but in statements to Der Spiegel, they added that the explosive had incendiary capabilities.

Dobrindt has asked for "no speculation" on the possible clues being investigated for the authorship, he also did not mention Russia, but did characterize the incident as a potential "hybrid attack." "No doubt this is not the action of amateurs but of true professionals," the Interior Minister said. "We are no longer facing an abstract threat but a real threat," Saxon Interior Deputy Armin Schuster emphasized.

European NATO countries have remained on alert since the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Hybrid warfare acts have increased and the signs point to operations orchestrated from Moscow. The intensity of these actions multiplied in 2025, with a dozen cases reported where unidentified drones threatened airports in western Europe.

Unmanned aerial vehicles followed the past December when they targeted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenski's plane during his visit to Dublin, Ireland. Ukraine has also targeted Russian merchant ships with drones, even in the Mediterranean. The Leipzig incident differs from many other similar events in the European Union in that a drone with explosives has been confirmed.

Saxon State Prosecutor Wolfgang Schwürzer assured that the investigation does not rule out any hypothesis, and has specifically mentioned the possibility of a radical or terrorist organization. The incident in Leipzig coincides with an increase in Russian bombardments against Ukraine's major logistics companies, with Russian missiles striking companies in Kiev the night before, causing the death of at least 17 civilians.