Germany to blame Moscow for airport drone incident on Tuesday, Bild reports

Germany's ministers ​for the interior and for ​foreign affairs plan ‌to announce ​on Tuesday that Russian intelligence services were behind an attempted drone attack ‌on a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig/Halle airport in early August, Bild newspaper reported on Tuesday. Bild cited security ‌sources in its online edition.

The interior ministry and ‌a government spokesperson declined to comment. The foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. News outlets Welt am ⁠Sonntag and ​Politico on ⁠Sunday reported the German government is preparing to hold Russia responsible for ⁠the attempted drone attack in Leipzig/Halle, a major air freight ​hub, and that it would ready countermeasures against Moscow.

German ⁠government members have said "foreign powers" could be behind the incident, ⁠but ​some lawmakers have pointed the finger at Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion in Ukraine in 2022. The ⁠Russian embassy in Berlin has previously dismissed such accusations as "fabricated provocation" ⁠and ⁠as "a new wave of anti-Russian hysteria in Germany".