Germany’s Leipzig-Halle airport, a major hub for transporting cargo and military equipment, temporarily suspended flights after an armed drone was found overnight and a cargo plane collided in midair with a small, unidentified object.
Several aircraft, including a passenger plane, were diverted, and part of the airport remains closed, according to a statement published Wednesday morning by local police. The airport has previously been targeted for espionage and sabotage.
The state prosecutor general and state criminal police have now taken over the case and are looking for witnesses, according to a separate statement on Wednesday afternoon.
The discovery of a drone was confirmed by a spokesperson for Germany’s interior ministry. According to state police, this drone was equipped with an explosive device.
The government separately confirmed that a plane struck a smaller object in the air and was forced to land at a regional airport in Hanover. State police said the plane only incurred minor damage.
German news agency DPA reported, citing a NATO spokesperson, that the drone was found near a Ukrainian aircraft. Leipzig airport is an important base for Ukraine’s Antonov transport planes since Russia invaded the country.
“There is an established, well-documented pattern of escalating Russian sabotage activities, and today’s event appears to be consistent with this Russian effort,” said George Barros, the director of innovation and open source tradecraft at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington.
A NATO spokesperson told Bloomberg the organization was aware of the incident and German authorities were investigating.
The airport in Leipzig, in the country’s east, has previously been the target of attacks and espionage attempts. In 2025, a woman was convicted of collecting information about flights, particularly military transports, to help with spying for China.
A year earlier, a freight container caught fire at a DHL logistics center in an incident authorities said may have been attempted sabotage by Russia.
Written by: Laura Alviz and Kamil Kowalcze — With assistance from Jorge Valero, Sonya Dymova, and Iain Marlow @Bloomberg
The post “German Airport Stops Flights After Drone Sighting, Collision” first appeared on Bloomberg