Leipzig: Drone flew deliberately towards Ukrainian freighter

The drone containing an explosive device, discovered last week at Leipzig/Halle Airport, flew directly toward a Ukrainian cargo plane, according to a media report. As the German weekly newspaper Die Zeit reported on Monday, newly analyzed surveillance camera footage shows the drone striking the wing of the Antonov aircraft in the evening.

Fuel tanks are typically located in the wings. The footage shows the device bouncing off the wing and falling to the ground, Die Zeit reported. Traces on one of the Antonov’s wings confirm this presumed sequence of events.

Why the explosive device did not detonate remains unclear. It was later found not attached to the drone itself, but some distance away. It is possible that it detached upon impact. The explosive was identified as Semtex.

Airport as a transshipment point for military goods

The drone was discovered by chance by an employee shortly before midnight on Wednesday. At that time, however, it was reportedly hovering at low altitude among several parked Ukrainian cargo planes. Later, a cargo plane collided with another object at the airport, which has not yet been located.

The drone’s origin remains unclear, with suspicion primarily focused on Russia. Leipzig Airport is a transshipment point for military equipment destined for Ukraine.

The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment on the report when asked. “The investigation is ongoing,” a spokesperson said. The highest prosecuting authority took over the investigation due to the particular significance of the case. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt had spoken of a “hybrid attack scenario” and did not rule out “foreign powers” as the perpetrators.

Germany plans to double its anti-drone units

The incident has sparked a debate about drone defense against critical infrastructure. In response, according to a report in Bild, Dobrindt intends to double the size of the anti-drone units within the Federal Police.

According to the Zeit report, the incident occurred on Tuesday evening of last week at around 7:30 p.m. The drone wasn’t discovered until approximately four hours later. As the video footage now shows, it was already on the ground when a bus driver noticed it, placed his foot on it, and alerted security personnel. This corrects previous accounts that the bus driver had kicked the hovering drone out of the air. This version had been reiterated, among others, by CDU Member of Parliament Detlef Seif after a briefing on domestic policy by the German government.