Sabotage Attempt in Leipzig: Investigators Identify Agents Linked to Russian Intelligence

German law enforcement authorities have identified two suspects in an attempted sabotage attack involving FPV drones at Leipzig Airport on August 5.

Bild and Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on the investigation.

Investigators determined that a Russian-born man with a Latvian passport and a Belarusian citizen who also holds a Russian passport were involved in the planned attack.

The Russian-born man acted as a logistician and instructor and also has links to Russian intelligence services.
He arrived in Germany in late July through Berlin Brandenburg Airport, traveled by rental car toward Leipzig, and left the country by plane two days before the attack.

The second suspect, a Belarusian citizen, was identified through DNA evidence found at the scene.

His DNA was found directly on one of the UAVs, inside a can containing explosives, and on a signal-amplifying antenna attached to a tree near the airport. After comparing the genetic traces with European databases, law enforcement authorities found matches in Lithuania and Finland, where the man had previously been prosecuted for other crimes.

It was established that he entered the Schengen Area on an Italian tourist visa issued in Minsk in late April.

Police are seeking at least four people in the case. Investigators were able to establish their movements and mobile phone numbers through radio direction finding.

German Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt stated that Russia was directly behind the organization of the attack and that the perpetrators had acted on the orders of its intelligence services. At the same time, the Federal Criminal Police Office believes that more drones may have been used in the attack than previously thought, as debris from three devices has so far been found.

The attempted sabotage took place at Leipzig Airport on the night of August 5 and involved drones equipped with explosives. An airport bus driver spotted the first UAV at 12:42 a.m. near four Ukrainian An-124 Ruslan transport aircraft. After a second device was discovered, all air traffic over the airport was suspended.

During the flight suspension, at 1:03 a.m., a DHL cargo aircraft approaching the airport was forced to abort its landing and, at an altitude of 400 meters, collided with another flying object, presumably a second drone. The third device was found on August 14 in a field in the municipality of Kabelsketal, which borders the western part of the airport.