A Ukrainian cargo plane, which was near the drone with explosives, found on Tuesday evening at the German Leipzig/Halle airport, was carrying military ammunition. This was reported by the German publications Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR, citing a confidential police report, News.bg reports.
According to the information, forensic experts have determined that the explosives attached to the drone were of a high degree of military purpose. If the data is officially confirmed, this will significantly increase the severity of the investigation, which the German authorities are already conducting as an anti-terrorist one.
The incident occurred at Leipzig/Halle Airport - one of the largest cargo centers in Europe and a key logistics hub for military supplies. The German government defines the facility as part of the country's critical infrastructure.
Earlier, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrind described the case as a “hybrid attack“ and stated that the discovery of a drone with explosives on the territory of an airport represents a new level of threat.
According to German media, the drone was found in the immediate vicinity of several Ukrainian An-124 “Ruslan“ transport aircraft of the “Antonov“ airline - one of the largest cargo planes in the world.
Meanwhile, German authorities are continuing to search for the remains of an unidentified object that damaged another cargo plane in the air near Leipzig that evening. The plane was making a repeated landing approach after one of the airport's runways was closed. After the collision, the plane suffered minor damage and later landed safely in Hanover.
Air traffic at the airport was temporarily suspended due to the two incidents, and several cargo planes, including those of the logistics company DHL, were diverted to other airports.
Leipzig/Halle Airport, which is also used by Lufthansa Cargo and Amazon, announced on Thursday that operations had resumed and that no additional security measures had been introduced.
So far, German authorities have not officially identified who was behind the two incidents. However, Roderich Kiesewetter, a Christian Democratic Union MP and member of the parliamentary committee for oversight of intelligence services, accused Russia of possible involvement. The Russian embassy in Berlin has not commented on these allegations.