German authorities identify suspects in failed drone attack at Leipzig airport

A drone packed with explosives hit a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport on the night of August 4-5 and simply didn’t go off. The detonator malfunctioned, turning what could have been a catastrophic attack on German soil into a forensic goldmine for investigators. Now German authorities have identified the people they believe were behind it, and the trail leads directly to Moscow’s GRU military intelligence service. What happened at Leipzig The target was an Antonov An-124, a massive Ukrainian cargo aircraft commonly used to ferry military supplies to Ukraine. Leipzig/Halle Airport has become a critical logistics hub for those shipments, which makes it strategically significant in the broader Russia-Ukraine conflict. According to findings announced on September 1 by German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, the drone struck the aircraft but failed to detonate its payload. That payload reportedly consisted of approximately 1.8 kg of Semtex and PETN, a combination of plastic explosives potent enough to cause serious structural damage to the plane and surrounding infrastructure. Three drones were ultimately linked to the operation. A ...