Expert: No evidence of Russian responsibility in Leipzig drone incident

ROME, September 6. /TASS/. Germany has not demonstrated any evidence of Russia's responsibility for the UAV incident at Leipzig Airport, which raises certain suspicions of deliberate discrediting of Russia, military expert and editor-in-chief of the Italian portal Analisi Difesa, Gianandrea Gaiani, told TASS.

"No concrete evidence of Russia's responsibility has been presented. If it existed, as in other similar previous cases in European countries, it would have been immediately displayed everywhere - in the media, on television. We have seen nothing pointing to Russia's responsibility for the drone in Leipzig, an operation that, by the way, failed, since nothing exploded and caused no damage," the agency's interlocutor noted.

He also drew attention to the fact that accusations against Russia in Germany, as well as assumptions about possible influence on the elections, are being voiced on the eve of the vote in Saxony-Anhalt, where the Alternative for Germany is the leading party in the polls. At the same time, Germany's special services are conducting an investigation against it under the article on security threats, the expert noted.

"All of this looks like an attempt to criminalize Russia and blame anyone for supporting Russia. Let us not forget that Alternative sent its representatives to the forum in St. Petersburg, where opportunities for restoring Nord Stream were discussed. Meanwhile, Berlin remains a loyal ally of Ukraine, while during the investigation in Germany it turned out that responsibility for the sabotage of this gas pipeline lies with the Ukrainian side," the expert continued.

Elections to the regional parliament will be held in Saxony-Anhalt on September 6. The opposition Alternative for Germany is expected to win them, and for the first time in history it may form a regional government. The rating of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union is at a minimum. On September 20, elections are to be held in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, where the positions of Merz's CDU have also significantly weakened compared to the previous elections in 2021.

On September 1, the German government officially blamed Russia for the drone incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport and announced countermeasures. Specifically, the Russian Consulate General in Bonn will close on September 18. Other measures include terminating the agreement governing the activities of the Russian House in Berlin and tightening entry controls for Russian citizens. Russian Ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev rejected all accusations made by Germany, calling them unsubstantiated and absurd.

Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Germany’s recent anti-Russian decisions, made under the pretext of the Leipzig Airport drone incident, are another grave mistake by the German authorities that goes against the interests of their people. According to him, these decisions are linked to Germany’s domestic political situation and, in particular, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s difficult position.

On the evening of August 4, a drone carrying a homemade explosive device was found on the tarmac at Leipzig/Halle Airport near a Ukrainian cargo plane. Thankfully, the detonator failed to go off. That same night, a second drone collided with a DHL cargo plane. Ten days later, investigators found a third drone, as well as traces of a powerful explosive, presumably containing about 50 grams of hexogen. The German Federal Prosecutor’s Office is handling the investigation.