According to consistent information from several media outlets, the federal government is convinced that Russia is responsible for the drone incident at Leipzig Airport a month ago. The trail of the investigation leads to Russia, it was said in security circles. Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt (CSU) and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (CDU) want to provide information in the afternoon about the results of the investigation and the federal government's initial reaction.
WELT and “Politico” had already reported on the preparation of measures against Russia at the weekend. According to the Interior Ministry, the details will be announced in a press conference this Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. According to information from “Spiegel”, the expulsion of Russian diplomats is planned. Neither the ministries nor the Federal Chancellery initially wanted to comment on the content. The government in Moscow has denied any responsibility for the incident.
Asked about Russia's possible backlash against German sanctions on the sidelines of a visit to Algiers on Tuesday morning, Wadephul said: "Germany will not be intimidated in any way." He added: “There are no overreactions from our side, but there are reactions when we are attacked.” Russia must know “that Germany is a factor of stability in Europe that is always ready to negotiate but will not allow itself to be intimidated in any way.” In addition, Germany remains firmly on Ukraine’s side.
On Sunday, Chancellor Friedrich Merz announced an early response to hybrid threats from Russia, coordinated with international partners. The investigation is about to be completed, said the CDU leader in the ARD summer interview. “We have a broad agreement in the federal government on how we will react, and we will make that clear in the next few days,” announced Merz. When asked whether Germany could react appropriately if Russia was behind the attack, Merz said: "Let's wait and see what responding appropriately means."
The so-called Russian shadow fleet could increasingly come into focus. On the sidelines of an informal meeting of EU defense ministers on Tuesday in Wicklow, Ireland, Parliamentary State Secretary Sebastian Hartmann said that “all the spotlights must be on the shadow fleet”. With the often dilapidated tankers, Russia circumvents international sanctions and finances its war of aggression against Ukraine, which violates international law.
The EU interior ministers of the states bordering the Baltic Sea also spoke about the shadow fleet last week. The action against them should be determined at a further meeting. The ships occasionally fly a false flag or change it frequently to make identification more difficult. The European states have so far taken different measures against them. Controls, for example on board, operate in a legal gray area. This is also explosive because Russia has probably now stationed security forces on the ships and some of them are accompanied by warships.
Experts had immediately suspected a hybrid attack by Russia behind the drone incident at the Saxon airport. Almost a month ago, an attempt was apparently made to carry out an attack on the airport grounds using drones. In addition to drone parts, explosives were also found. A Ukrainian Antonov transport plane was parked nearby.
