German investigators trace Leipzig airport drone plot to Russian GRU agent

German investigators have identified a suspected Russian military intelligence operative as the coordinator of a failed drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport, prompting a major diplomatic breakdown between Berlin and Moscow.

According to intelligence reports detailed by the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, security services have linked the operation to Oleg Le, a Russian national with active ties to the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency. A Belarusian national, Andrei Ka, has also been identified as his accomplice.

The plot was discovered on the evening of 4 August when airport security found an explosives-laden drone in a secure cargo area. The aircraft was positioned close to a Ukrainian transport jet. Leipzig/Halle Airport serves as a major logistics hub for Western military equipment and humanitarian aid destined for Ukraine, making it a highly sensitive national security site. Specialist police officers managed to disarm the drone before it could be detonated.

According to the intelligence findings, Le entered Germany from Turkey before the attempted attack. Although German security agencies were already aware of his GRU connections when he arrived, they did not place him under surveillance. This operational lapse allowed him to slip out of the country. He reportedly flew from Berlin-Brandenburg Airport to Serbia shortly after the incident and is now believed to have returned to Russia.

Forensic teams managed to trace the two suspects using DNA left on the drone's remote-control antenna. Investigators found that these samples matched DNA recovered from an arson attack on 20 July at a DHL logistics facility in Leipzig, suggesting a wider sabotage cell was operating in the area.

German intelligence officials believe the explosives used in the drone were smuggled into the country inside trucks passing through Bulgaria and Serbia, before being stored in secret underground caches around Leipzig.

The discovery of a direct Russian state link pushed the German government to officially accuse Moscow of the plot. Berlin retaliated by shutting down the Russian Consulate General in Bonn and a Russian cultural centre in Berlin. The Kremlin denied any involvement and quickly retaliated by closing Germany's Goethe Institute cultural exchange offices across Russia.

The case is being treated by security officials as part of a rising wave of Russian hybrid warfare across Europe, which has increasingly targeted logistics and infrastructure. Germany's domestic intelligence agency, the BfV, declined to comment on the specific findings, with a spokeswoman stating that they cannot discuss details of an active investigation.