German police deploy bomb disposal robot at Leipzig airport after explosive drone found near Ukrainian plane
Flights at Leipzig/Halle Airport were disrupted overnight after a drone carrying explosives was found and a cargo plane hit an unidentified object.
An airport employee spotted the drone in a secure cargo area near the south runway just before midnight. Police sent a bomb disposal robot to remove the detonator. X-ray scans showed the device was defective, but experts still carried out a controlled explosion.
At the same time a DHL cargo plane aborted its landing because the runway was closed, then collided with an unknown object as it climbed away. It landed safely in Hanover with minor damage to the nose. Several other aircraft, including a passenger flight, were diverted. The north runway reopened at 01:55, while the south runway stayed closed for checks.
Leipzig/Halle is one of Europe’s biggest cargo hubs and a base for Ukraine’s Antonov Airlines since 2022. It is also used by the German military, Nato allies and logistics group DHL. Because of that, German airports have been on high alert after months of unauthorised drone flights over military sites, energy terminals, seaports and logistics firms. Federal police have said some overflights may have been organised by Russian agents.
German state prosecutors and counter-terrorism units have taken over the investigation. Saxony’s Interior Minister Armin Schuster called it a “very serious security incident.” Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany Oleksii Makeiev told Welt TV: “Who else could it be but Russia?” Russia has not commented. NATO investigators have also joined the inquiry.