Kremlin threatens response to Germany after sabotage accusations in Leipzig

The Kremlin has promised to respond to Germany's decisions after Berlin accused Russia of orchestrating a drone-based sabotage attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport in early August. The statement came from Russian officials after Germany announced the closure of Russia's consulate general and other retaliatory measures.

"If such serious accusations are being made, they must be backed up by something. If I'm not mistaken, no evidence has been presented," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, as quoted by Russian state news agency TASS. He added that Germany's apparent desire to further escalate relations was obvious.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was even more blunt, calling Berlin's accusations "a completely far-fetched and contrived pretext" for worsening bilateral relations. "As usual, no convincing or serious evidence has been presented — because none exists, and none can exist," she said, adding that Moscow would respond to all anti-Russian decisions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed the accusations as a mistake. "I think this is another mistake, a serious one. And in my view, it clearly runs counter to the interests of the German people," TASS quoted him as saying.

Berlin's response

In reaction to the incident, Germany is closing Russia's consulate general, terminating an agreement on the use of a Russian-owned building in Berlin, and plans to push for new sanctions against those involved in the attacks. German authorities have also summoned the Russian ambassador.

"The attack in Leipzig shows that Russia is determined to keep damaging our already strained bilateral relations," said German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. He said Russia bears responsibility for espionage and sabotage operations across Europe, and that the August incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport fits into "a familiar pattern of Russian hybrid operations."

The minister also said that for the hybrid attack, Russians recruited so-called low-level agents — people without intelligence training who are used by security services for individual tasks. "Russia is responsible for the hybrid attack in Leipzig on August 4," Dobrindt said.

What happened at the airport

Late in the evening of August 4, an airport employee spotted a drone near a Ukrainian cargo plane operated by the airline Antonov. It later emerged that the drone was fitted with explosives, though the detonator apparently malfunctioned. Airport operations were temporarily halted after the drone was discovered.

Another cargo plane preparing to land was forced to abort its landing maneuver after colliding with an "unidentified flying object." It remains unclear whether this too was a drone. In late August, German media reported that police had found what may have been a third drone near the airport in mid-August.

Source: novinky.cz