US intelligence links drone near Ukrainian aircraft in Leipzig to Russia - WSJ
Photo: An-124 aircraft at the airport (from open sources)
US intelligence has linked Russia to an incident at Leipzig-Halle airport in Germany, where a drone packed with explosives was discovered near a Ukrainian An-124 aircraft, according to anonymous US officials who spoke to The Wall Street Journal.
Sources familiar with US intelligence reports on the incident have tied it to Russian state authorities.
A number of German media outlets have also linked Russia to the drone found at the airport, which was rigged with explosives.
However, as the WSJ notes, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has so far not named Russia among the possible perpetrators.
According to him, the investigation must determine whether foreign states were involved in the incident, which he described as a new threat scenario.
Incident at Leipzig Airport
Operations at Leipzig Airport were temporarily suspended on the night of August 5 after a suspicious object — later identified as a drone — was found near a Ukrainian aircraft.
Attached to the drone, which was lying just a few meters from the An-124, was a package containing explosives, believed to be the plastic explosive Semtex. Federal police officers classified the object as a possible improvised explosive device.
The type of explosive found, Semtex, was developed in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s and is used for military purposes and demolition.
According to German security authorities, the explosives failed to detonate only due to a faulty detonator, which was later removed by an ordnance disposal unit.
Antonov Airlines regularly uses Leipzig/Halle Airport as a base for its cargo aircraft.
Initially, it was assumed that the aircraft was carrying ammunition, but this version was later refuted.
RBC-Ukraine reported on several investigative versions regarding how the drone with explosives ended up on the ground near the An-124 aircraft.
