Due to the special significance of the case, Germany's Federal Prosecutor's Office (Bundesanwaltschaft) has taken over the investigation into the explosive-laden drone found at Leipzig Airport. There is suspicion of attempted causing of an explosion using explosives and dangerous interference with air traffic, the Federal Prosecutor General announced on Thursday evening in Karlsruhe.
Meanwhile, FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann pointed to Russia as being behind the incident, which has triggered a debate over responsibilities for drone defense. "There are sufficient factual indications that on the evening of 4 August 2026, on the grounds of Leipzig/Halle Airport, an explosion was intended to be triggered by means of a drone," the Federal Prosecutor General stated. "For this purpose, professional-grade explosives and a detonator had been attached to the drone."
According to the information provided, a cargo aircraft had to abort its approach and go around because of the incident and "collided, in the extended area of the airport, in the air with an object, presumably another drone."
"This is a serious attack on the transport and logistics infrastructure in Germany," the statement continued. "The act is thus capable of impairing the external and internal security of the Federal Republic."
The explosive-laden drone was discovered by an airport employee overnight into Wednesday. Federal Police explosives experts defused the explosive charge, which apparently failed to detonate only because the detonator was faulty. According to reports, four Ukrainian aircraft were nearby. Leipzig/Halle Airport is regarded as a hub for military aid shipments to Ukraine. It remains unknown so far whether there was ammunition on board the Ukrainian aircraft.
"We are a supporter of Ukraine, and Russia has a huge interest in changing that, by generating resistance within the German public," FDP defense politician Strack-Zimmermann told the "Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger" (Friday edition), referring to the drone discovery. "We must be clear that Germany has not just today become a target of Russian aggression."
Earlier, Green parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge had already leveled serious accusations against Moscow. "It seems obvious that the drone attack could be an act of Russian state terrorism," she told the newspaper "Welt".
As a consequence of the events in Leipzig, the chairman of the Bundestag's Defense Committee, Thomas Röwekamp (CDU), called for centralizing responsibility for drone defense within the Federal Interior Ministry. The findings so far "confirm the urgency of quickly finding new answers to the threat posed by drones to civilian infrastructure," he told the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (Friday editions). "We need a central authority instead of a multitude of federal aviation security agencies."
"In the end, it is only thanks to chance and the vigilance of a bus driver that a major damage event could be prevented," Röwekamp said, referring to the explosive-laden drone discovered at Leipzig Airport. In addition to central responsibility, material equipment would also be needed "that can reliably combat the versatility of the threat." Central responsibility should "lie with the Federal Interior Ministry or the Federal Police."
Responsibility for drone defense at airports in Germany currently lies with the Federal Police, according to the information provided. In addition, there is also the Joint Drone Defense Center (GDAZ) of the federal government and the states, established at the end of last year. The Bundeswehr (armed forces), in turn, would intervene if all other institutions were technically overwhelmed. There is currently no central responsibility.
SPD interior policy expert Sebastian Fiedler defended the division of responsibilities. "The fact that there are different responsibilities at airports is not, in itself, a problem, as long as cooperation is close and works well and there is as little friction loss as possible," he told the "Rheinische Post".
He added, however, that it must "always be unmistakably clear who is responsible for what and when." At the same time, Fiedler emphasized: "Separate from that, it generally applies to the whole of Germany, and not just to security authorities: investment in the most modern drone defense technology is now indispensable."
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