Attempted drone bomb attack at Leipzig Airport in Germany: Russian intelligence network suspected of involvement

An attempted drone bomb attack occurred at the Leipzig-Halle Airport in Germany in August. Politico website and the Daily Telegraph revealed more inside information on the 2nd, pointing out that a man with close ties to Russia's General Military Intelligence Service (GRU) was suspected of being responsible for planning the operation. The case also involved Russia's sabotage network in Europe.

The Daily Telegraph and Germany's Welt am Sonntag obtained intelligence documents from Germany, Lithuania and Poland, and interviewed high-level Western intelligence officials. Politico quoted German federal police investigation files, Lithuanian police investigation and forensic information, and German and European security officials to reveal the inside story of the operation, pointing out that the operation was suspected to be planned by Oleg Levushkin and executed by Belarusian agent Andrei Karshakou.

Levushkin first went to Germany before the attack and rented a car at Berlin Airport. The vehicle location data showed that he visited many suspected weapons hiding places in the next few days. On July 31, he appeared near Leipzig Airport as a suspected survey target. Investigators believe that the 1.8 kilograms of Semtex used in the attack was hidden in the mezzanine of a truck and transported into Germany via Bulgaria and Serbia.

An attempted attack on Leipzig Airport occurred on August 4. A drone loaded with explosives crashed into the wing of a Ukrainian Antonov 124 transport aircraft on the tarmac and then fell. The transport aircraft was carrying about 25,000 liters of aviation fuel. Fortunately, the explosives did not detonate, otherwise it may have caused serious damage to the airport. The police also found the wreckage of two drones and a simple antenna that was suspected of relaying control signals. The fragments of gloves on the antennas were found to have DNA that matched Karshako.

Politico noted that the bomb's failure to explode allowed investigators to obtain the complete device. The metal seal of the metal can containing the explosives has seven circular indentations, which are highly similar to the explosive device previously seized in Lithuania and believed to be involved in Russian sabotage operations. The physical resemblance alone is not enough to prove they are part of the same operation, but two Western security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the combination of personnel movements, logistics routes and intelligence information pointed to a broader Russian intelligence mission.

Levushkin holds a Russian passport and is said to have maintained a close relationship with GRU colonel Denis Smolyaninov for nearly 20 years. Lithuanian intelligence stated that Smolyaninov was in charge of the GRU's Ukrainian department and was involved in planning covert sabotage operations in Europe.

The investigation clues also point to GRU Unit 29155. Lithuanian intelligence stated that this unit is responsible for killing people, destroying infrastructure, interfering with the operations of institutions that conflict with Russian interests, and launching terrorist attacks in Western countries. Previously, Western governments and investigators have also linked this unit to the explosion of ammunition depots in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, and the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in the UK in 2018.

The Russian government did not respond to inquiries about Unit 29155 and Smolyaninov; the Russian Embassy in Berlin called the relevant accusations "baseless" and criticized this as "a new wave of anti-Russian hysteria in Europe."