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Two drone-related incidents at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany represent the most serious threats yet in the wave of small drone incursions that have plagued Europe for the past few years. German police say an explosive-laden drone was located on the ground near a Ukrainian cargo jet and that there was a midair collision between an object and another cargo aircraft.
This marks the first time that a drone with explosives has been found in Europe far from the Ukrainian border, The Guardian noted. The incidents, which spurred the opening of a counter-terror investigation and temporary closure of the airport, have raised the level of concern about these incursions and the threats to parked aircraft, issues TWZ has frequently covered for years.
That the drone was carrying explosives “is a new quality of danger,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told reporters.
Statement von Innenminister Armin Schuster zum Sicherheitsvorfall am Flughafen Leipzig/Halle im Anschluss an die Pressekonferenz mit Bundesinnenminister Alexander Dobrindt pic.twitter.com/jIiGz4TrX0
— Innenministerium Sachsen (@SMIsachsen) August 5, 2026German officials have not said who was operating the drones, but Ukrainian officials are blaming Russia.
“During the night of August 4 to 5, 2026, an airport employee discovered a drone carrying an unknown explosive device in the security area of the cargo flight operations, near the ‘South Runway takeoff/landing strip,’” the Saxony State Criminal Police said in a release. “The object was examined with the support of the Federal Police and a bomb-disposal robot. The Federal Police’s IEDD (improvised explosive device disposal) unit removed the detonator from the explosive device.”
The explosive-laden drone was found near a massive An-124-100 Ruslan (NATO reporting name Condor) cargo jet. As we have previously reported, Antonov, which operates the aircraft, is now using Leipzig as its headquarters after its facilities at Hostomel Airport in Ukraine were destroyed in the opening days of the Russian all-out invasion. The airport is also used by NATO and the German military for transport.
In the context of a Russian threat, the Condor, in particular, represents an unsurprising target. Ukraine’s An-124s are a source of national pride and a big flying symbol of the country’s defiance and survival. They also provide much-needed revenue to Ukraine and strategic airlift to support the conflict. Ukraine’s An-124s have long provided charter cargo services for western militaries, companies and NGOs. Since the war began, Antonov Airlines An-124s have been used to deliver war materiel bound for Ukraine. So, these giant aircraft really check a lot of boxes if Russia was looking to drastically escalate to executing such brazen attacks in European countries. While they are clearly the logical suspect in this case, we still have no proof of who was behind these incidents.
A police drone takes off next to a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport on August 5, 2026 near Leipzig, Germany. Airport workers reportedly discovered a drone yesterday on the tarmac near an Antonov An-124 Condor at the airport that was equipped with an explosives detonator and an unidentified substance. (Photo by Jens Schlueter/Getty Images) Jens SCHLUETERIn addition to the drone on the ground, “a presumed second, unknown flying object collided with a cargo aircraft after it aborted its landing and went around again due to the previously imposed runway closure,” the Saxony State Criminal Police added. “After landing in Hanover, the aircraft was found to have sustained minor damage.”
The cargo jet in the midair incident reportedly belonged to DHL. It should be noted that in 2024, Western security officials said they believed “that two incendiary devices, shipped via DHL, were part of a covert Russian operation that ultimately aimed to start fires aboard cargo or passenger aircraft flying to the U.S. and Canada, as Moscow steps up a sabotage campaign against Washington and its allies,” according to The Wall Street Journal at the time. However, there is no clear connection between these situations at this time.
“Leipzig Airport is part of our critical infrastructure,” stated State Minister of Justice Prof. Constanze Geiert. “Attacks on these structures must be pursued by the law enforcement authorities with full force and severity. It is therefore welcome that the investigation has been taken over by the Central Office for Extremism Saxony (ZESA), the Dresden General Prosecutor’s Office, and the Saxony State Criminal Police Office, and is now being conducted under high pressure and in close coordination with the federal security authorities.”
A police investigator works on the tarmac near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport on August 5, 2026 near Leipzig, Germany. (Photo by Jens Schlueter/Getty Images) Jens SchlueterAs noted earlier in this story, German officials have yet to point the finger at anyone, but Ukraine’s officials say Moscow is behind it.
Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Oleksii Makeiev, blamed Moscow. “Who else could it be but Russia?” he told German media, without offering any proof. Ukraine’s strategic communications center took a similar stance.
“New footage of yet another act of Russian terrorism on EU soil, showing the drone loaded with explosives on the tarmac at Leipzig/Halle Airport, just meters from a Ukrainian Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft,” Ukraine’s Center for Strategic Communications posited on X. “According to German authorities, the drone was carrying an improvised explosive device. Bomb disposal specialists rendered it safe after determining the detonator had malfunctioned, preventing the device from exploding. In a separate incident the same night, a DHL cargo aircraft reportedly struck an unidentified object shortly after departure—possibly another drone—before diverting safely. The aircraft landed without injuries, though inspectors found minor damage.”
New footage of yet another act of Russian terrorism on EU soil, showing the drone loaded with explosives on the tarmac at Leipzig/Halle Airport, just meters from a Ukrainian Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft.
According to German authorities, the drone was carrying an improvised… https://t.co/eCZaLfz9yx pic.twitter.com/DbRz87wgIv
While it is unknown how the UAS came to be found near the Condor, or what countermeasures are in place at the airport, if any, when taken at face value, it has all the hallmarks of an attempted near-field attack via short-range drone. This is the same kind of strike Ukraine famously pulled off last year during its Operation Spiderweb campaign against Russian strategic aviation. In that operation, Ukraine remotely launched drones, hidden in trucks parked near airfields across Russia, to hit parked bombers and other critical aircraft. Spiderweb hammered home a threat TWZ had raised for years — even the most important aircraft on earth largely sit vulnerable on the ground to large scale attacks by low-end drones launched nearby.
You can see a video of one of the Operation Spiderweb attacks below:
Ukrainian drones struck Russian strategic aviation at the Belaya air base in Irkutsk – 4,800 km from Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/UBAi7znioR
— Michael MacKay (@mhmck) June 1, 2025Europe, as we pointed out earlier, has seen many waves of suspected drone incursions over military installations and civilian airports. They have shut down airports, forced the deployment of a German frigate to provide air defense coverage for the European Union meetings in Copenhagen last year and spurred changes to increase the ability to counter these aircraft.
Drone sightings over European military bases and critical infrastructure have occurred sporadically over the years, some raising serious concerns. We broke the news on several over U.S. bases in England late last year, for instance. The origin of these drones has sparked debate across Europe. While many officials have stopped short of saying definitively who is responsible, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen last year suggested it could be Moscow, calling Russia the primary “country that poses a threat to European security.” The Kremlin has denied any involvement.
You can hear Frederiksen’s comments at the time in the following video:
Denmark has in recent days been subjected to ‘hybrid’ attacks involving drones over critical military and civilian sites, prime minister Mette Frederiksen said in a video statement https://t.co/OUi565hG6f pic.twitter.com/OFiUxv3pdz
— Reuters (@Reuters) September 26, 2025However, the incidents at Leipzig are the most serious yet as they prove weaponization.
The issue of drone incursions is not unique to Europe, as we have highlighted for years. There have been numerous incursions at military installations across the U.S., including some near the water, like Langley Air Force Base in December 2023 that The War Zone was the first to report. More recently, Barksdale AFB in Louisiana, home of B-52 strategic bombers and nuclear weapons, experienced a similar series of very troubling incursions. Off the coast of California, American warships were swarmed sporadically for days in the summer of 2019. There are many other examples, as well, and as is the case in Europe, it remains publicly unknown who operated those drones in all those instances.
The weaponization of small, even off-the-shelf drones, is only proliferating, especially after half a decade of fighting in Ukraine where these types of drones are considered among the most important weapons on the battlefield today. The know-how to assemble and employ these ‘democratized’ smart munitions is only spreading and the threat of them showing up far beyond war zones will only grow. For years already, criminal organizations like drug cartels have been using drones as assassination tools, for instance. This and so many other factors have made the need for better means of detecting and defeating them all that more dire. But even in the hands of the lowest of non-state actors, or even nefarious individuals, small drones will be increasingly used to do big damage.
Contact the author: howard@twz.com
Howard Altman
Senior Staff Writer
Howard is a Senior Staff Writer for TWZ. He writes frequently about conflict, focusing heavily on the Middle East and Ukraine, and interviews with military and intelligence officials and industry leaders from around the globe. He lives near Tampa, Florida, home of U.S. Central Command, U.S. Special Operations Command.
Tyler Rogoway
Editor-in-Chief
Tyler’s passion is the study of military technology, strategy, as well as foreign policy, and he has fostered a dominant voice on those topics in the defense and national security space. Tyler was the creator of the hugely popular defense site Foxtrot Alpha before developing TWZ, which he continues to lead as the Editor-In-Chief to this day.
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