Germany is preparing to officially accuse Russian intelligence services of an attempted drone attack on a Ukrainian An-124 transport plane at the "Leipzig/Halle" airport in early August, "Reuters" reported, citing two informed sources.
Berlin is also considering new sanctions against Moscow, which could be prepared jointly with Germany's allies. The sources did not specify what specific restrictive measures are being discussed.
German authorities are expected to present the results of the investigation on Tuesday afternoon at a joint press conference by Foreign Minister Johann Waddeful and Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt.
The German government has so far refrained from officially naming the perpetrator. On Monday, government spokesman Stefan Cornelius said that responsibility for the incident would be determined once the investigation was completed and decisions on the appropriate measures had been agreed and taken.
The incident took place on August 4 at Leipzig/Halle Airport, where a drone equipped with an explosive substance and a detonator was found. According to the investigation, the suspected target was a Ukrainian Antonov An-124 heavy transport aircraft used to transport military supplies.
Several Ukrainian An-124s are based at the airport. Leipzig/Halle is one of the largest cargo airports in Europe and is also important as a logistics hub for NATO.
Following the discovery of the drone, flights at the airport were suspended for about two hours. German authorities described the incident as a serious security threat and part of the growing hybrid threat against the country.
Investigators later found another drone with explosives. The possibility that a second drone had collided with a DHL cargo plane shortly after the airport was temporarily closed is also being investigated. The plane, which was unable to land in Leipzig, later landed safely in Hanover.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt described the discovery of the drone with explosives as a "new level of danger" immediately after the first incident. On August 7, Germany's National Security Council held an emergency meeting chaired by Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The authorities subsequently raised the threat assessment for Germany from "abstract" to "high". According to the government, the reason was a significantly increased number of warnings from both German and allied intelligence services.
After the incident, Berlin also accelerated the deployment of anti-drone systems at German airports. The eight major airports in Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne/Bonn, Stuttgart and Leipzig/Halle are to be equipped with mobile devices as a priority.
Germany and other European countries have repeatedly accused Russia of organizing sabotage, cyberattacks and other hybrid operations on European territory since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Moscow rejects such accusations and describes them as attempts by Western countries to incite fear of Russia.
If Berlin officially establishes the involvement of Russian intelligence services in the Leipzig case, the incident would be among the most serious alleged Russian sabotage operations on German territory since the beginning of the war, as it involved a drone with explosives aimed at an aircraft at an operating civilian airport.