German criminal police have identified the DNA of two men with Russian passports suspected of bringing a drone with explosives to Leipzig airport - an attempted attack for which Berlin yesterday blamed Russia, three German media outlets reported today, quoted by Agence France-Presse, BTA reported.
According to the newspaper "Süddeutsche Zeitung" and regional public media groups NDR and VDR, the first suspect, who is a Belarusian citizen but also holds a Russian passport, entered the Schengen area with an Italian tourist visa issued in Minsk.
This man has already come to the attention of law enforcement authorities for crimes committed in the Baltic states, the three media outlets claim.
The second suspect, who according to NDR and VDR holds a Latvian and Russian passport, and according to "Süddeutsche Zeitung" was born in Russia, acted as a logistician and instructor for the attack. Arriving in Germany at the end of July via Berlin airport, he rented a car to travel to the Leipzig area before leaving the country two days before the alleged attack, again according to the same sources.
The two men were identified thanks to DNA traces found by forensic experts in the vicinity of the airport, namely on a drone, on a tin can full of explosives and on an antenna attached to a tree.
European databases have made it possible to establish the two men's transfers in Lithuania and Finland, confirmed by information from the intelligence services, as indicated in these media publications.
Germany announced retaliatory measures against Russia yesterday after accusing it of being behind the placement of a drone loaded with explosives in early August at Leipzig airport - a military transport hub of key importance for the German army and NATO. The drone was found in a secure cargo area near several Ukrainian cargo planes, and a second drone collided with a DHL cargo plane a few minutes later. According to German media, another drone was later found near the airport, also with traces of explosives.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that police investigations, operational methods and information from German intelligence services "prove a Russian trace in the attempted attack at Leipzig airport".
Russian President Vladimir Putin condemned the accusations yesterday as "another gross mistake" by Germany, which has become Ukraine's largest financial backer, and the Russian Foreign Ministry announced today that it has summoned the German chargé d'affaires to Moscow.
Since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, Germany and a number of other European countries have regularly accused the Kremlin of destabilization, espionage and sabotage operations on their territory, AFP notes.