Germany Blames Russia for Drone Attack, Announces Retaliatory Measures

BERLIN — Berlin squarely placed the blame for an incursion of explosive-laden drones last month on the Kremlin and announced a raft of retaliatory diplomatic measures.

The incident and Germany’s response mark a new chapter in Europe’s fraught relationship with Russia, with EU leaders lining up to support Berlin.

“Russia’s leadership is treating our country with open hostility,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said in Berlin on Tuesday. “With the attempted attack in Leipzig, the Russian leadership has, in fact, deliberately chosen to further and significantly damage our already severely strained bilateral relationship.”

The attempted attack in August involved three drones carrying explosive material spotted at or near the Leipzig-Halle Airport in eastern Germany, including one drone that was found near a Ukrainian Antonov plane used to transport munitions.

Standing alongside Wadephul, German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the German government determined Russia is responsible even as investigations remain ongoing.

“The attack involved tools such as the drone configuration, various components, explosives and cyber technology that we recognize from other Russian hybrid operations and its war against Ukraine,” Dobrindt said.

Wadephul announced a series of domestic countermeasures, including the closure of Russia’s Bonn consulate on September 18, stricter entry controls for Russian nationals and the termination of the agreement governing the Russian House in central Berlin — a cultural institution suspected of serving as a hub for espionage operations and whose Russian operator is under EU sanctions.

Germany will also propose new EU sanctions targeting Russian individuals connected to hybrid attacks, while pushing to increase measures targeting Russia’s shadow fleet, Wadephul said. A senior German government official also said Berlin would advocate that the EU reduce the number of 90-day tourist visas issued to Russian citizens and restrict the freedom of movement of Russian diplomats.

The announcement comes as EU foreign ministers are set to meet in Ireland on Tuesday night and Wednesday. “The matter, including additional sanctions, will be prepared by Foreign Ministers at their upcoming meeting,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on social media after the German announcement.

Given the significance of the announcement, it was not immediately clear why German Chancellor Friedrich Merz didn’t make it himself. But the ratcheting up of tensions with Moscow comes at a sensitive political moment ahead of a state election on Sunday in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, where the Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany (AfD) is far ahead in polls.

Berlin’s response comes as the German government hardens its overall approach to Russia, including by moving to allow its foreign intelligence service to conduct sabotage and offensive cyber operations in response to hybrid threats. Merz has long maintained that Germany is neither at war nor at peace, but it is rare for Berlin to so definitively attribute a hybrid attack to Russia and take targeted countermeasures.

Dobrindt said the attack was carried out by low-level agents, adding that the technology found at the scene indicated “a high degree of technical expertise and considerable organizational effort in the planning and execution of the attack.”

He also suggested German officials expect more such attacks to follow.

“We assume that Germany is the target of further hybrid attacks by Russia. It can also be assumed that there is a willingness to cause even greater damage through hybrid attacks,” he said. “Thankfully, in Leipzig, this did not happen as had apparently been planned.”

European leaders on Tuesday expressed support for Germany’s retaliatory measures.