The tone is rising in Europe, after Germany's accusations against Russia. On Tuesday, September 1, Berlin designated Moscow as responsible for sending a drone loaded with explosives on August 9 to Leipzig-Halle airport, in eastern Germany.
The attack represents "the characteristics of an act of terrorism supported by a State", said Kaja Kallas, the head of diplomacy of the European Union on Wednesday, while Emmanuel Macron criticized the "hybrid war" led by Russia against the Europeans.
This indignation, which caused the implementation of new sanctions by Germany against Russia, is not surprising, as the airport has become a strategic location for Ukraine and NATO since the start of the war with Russia in February 2022.
A hub for European freight
Located in Saxony, just over 200 km from the Polish border, the airport is primarily a major site for the transport of goods in Europe. It houses the European sorting center of DHL Express, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post. In 2025, nearly 1.4 million tonnes of freight passed through it, according to figures from its manager.
But the airport is above all very important for kyiv, while "a large part of military support for Ukraine passes through Leipzig airport", underlines security researcher Peter Neumann, professor at King's College London, to the German newspaper Tagesspiegel.
In recent years, the site has become one of the bases of Antonov Airlines, a major Ukrainian freight company. At the start of the Russian invasion, the company moved five of its AN-124s, very large cargo planes, there to prevent them from being destroyed, according to Interfax. According to the Euronews channel, a “new large capacity hangar” is also “under construction” in the capital of Saxony.
A NATO military base
The airport is also a key logistics hub for NATO. It has played a central role in the transport of military goods, notably those of the German army and its NATO allies, since the 2000s. During the war in Afghanistan, hundreds of American soldiers used it as a transfer airport. At the same time, the German army invaded the place to transport military equipment.
Since 2006, Leipzig-Halle Airport has been the operational center of the Salis airlift program (Strategic airlift international solution), managed by NATO, which allows nine countries, including Germany and France, to have AN-124 cargo planes. The device can sometimes be used for humanitarian missions, such as during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, for the transport of medical equipment, NATO reported at the time.
But the site gained even more importance after the outbreak of the Russian invasion. “From the point of view of the rapid delivery of important military materials, Leipzig is a central point for deliveries from or transiting through Germany,” summarizes Ralf Thiele, former colonel of the Bundeswehr, to public media SWR.
Previous incidents
The strategic position of the airport explains the interest that Moscow could have in it. “It could actually be in Russia's interest, at the moment, to strike Ukrainian logistics here,” deciphers Hans-Jakob Schindler, senior director of the Counter Extremism Project, to Focus magazine.
Especially since the August episode is not a first. Two security incidents involving Leipzig-Halle Airport have already been made public in recent months. In July 2024, a package caught fire in the DHL center before its planned transport by plane. The head of German domestic intelligence openly accused Moscow of being behind this incident.
In September 2025, a Chinese national was also convicted of espionage for having provided the former collaborator of a far-right MP with information on flights, cargo and passengers. The data concerned in particular the transport of military goods and people "with links to a German arms company", according to the prosecution.
