Germany Accuses Russia of 'Hybrid Attacks' After Finding Drone With Explosives at Airport Last Month

Germany has accused Russia of being responsible for a failed drone attack at Leipzig airport in early August.

The Main 'Attack': On August 5, a drone with explosives was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane, undetonated. At the time, and in current coverage, many mainstream Western outlets repeated the claim that the drone may have had a faulty detonator. In current coverage, The New York Times (Lean Left bias) said the drone had "what appeared to be a faulty detonator," and BBC News (Center) described the detonator as "apparently faulty." Fox News (Right) claimed that "officials said" the attack failed because of a faulty detonator.

'Faulty' Claim Origins: Back on August 7, days after the attack, The Guardian (Left) reported that Germany's interior minister, Alexander Dobrindt, said the attack failed only because of a "ripped" detonator. The claim appeared to stem from reports from the German publications Der Spiegel and BILD, which both said the detonator "may" have broken off before the attack. AllSides was unable to find a direct quote or confirmation from Dobrindt that the detonator was "ripped" or "faulty."

Second 'Attack': Later that day, local officials said, "A second, presumably unidentified, flying object collided with a cargo plane after the latter aborted its landing due to the runway being closed. Minor damage was observed on the aircraft after it landed in Hanover." In current coverage, German public broadcasters reported that on August 14, another "third" drone with "residues of [what] could be around 50 grams of the highly explosive substance hexogen" was found nearby in a field. German state broadcaster DW News (Center) described the presumed UFO as a "second drone" and said it was "loaded with explosives," but did not mention the public broadcasters by name or link to the reporting. The Kyiv Independent (Center) said the drone had a "batch of explosives."

An 'Attack?': Many mainstream outlets differed in how they described the recent episode at Leipzig airport. Some, like CNN (Lean Left) and BBC, described it as an "attack," while others, like Associated Press (Lean Left) and DW News, described it as an "attempted" attack.

Blaming Russia: Dobrindt said on September 2, "Taken together, the police investigations, the pattern and intelligence findings prove a Russian responsibility for the attempted attack at Leipzig airport. We do not view Leipzig as an isolated incident, but rather see it in the context of other hybrid actions. We assume that Germany will be the target of further hybrid attacks by Russia." Days prior, on August 26, ABC News (Lean Left) reported that an anonymous US intelligence official told the publication that the drone was "typical" of one used by Russian intelligence.

RELATED: WSJ Journalist Publishes Book on Nord Stream Pipeline Sabotage | AllSides

EU Response: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that "The message is clear: hybrid attacks will not go without a clear response." German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the EU will "work on imposing sanctions on individuals in the coming weeks."

Russian Response: Russia's embassy in Germany said, "The Russian ambassador categorically rejected the accusations ​levelled by ​Berlin ⁠as unsubstantiated, absurd and contrary to common sense. He pointed out that the ​measures ⁠announced by the German side represent an unprecedented escalation in Russian-German relations ⁠and ​will not remain without ​consequences."

Russian Media Perspective: Kremlin-funded RT (Lean Right) pointed out that last year, after drones were allegedly spotted near Copenhagen airport, many more alleged drone sightings in Northern Europe made headlines. This has also been documented on Wikipedia. RT says, "Not only is there no proof that Russia was connected with these sightings, there is no evidence that any drones were present at all. No wreckage has been recovered, no perpetrators have been identified, and no footage of the drones exists, except for the video from Copenhagen that apparently shows a light aircraft." In light of Germany's accusations, it described the drone "crisis" as a "ploy" that is being "milked" to "ramp up defense spending."

RELATED: How Conservative Western Media Spun a Female Biologist Into a 'Russian Escort' | AllSides

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.