The failed Russian operation at the airport led to an unprecedented diplomatic rift

The heads of the NATO alliance and the European Union sent a sharp warning to Moscow today (Thursday) and announced preparations for a joint response to what they defined as an aggressive and dangerous Russian pattern of action on the continent's soil. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte clarified that the attack on the Leipzig/Halle airport in Germany constitutes crossing a red line and a new stage in the Kremlin's hybrid campaign against Western countries.

The German government announced on Tuesday that police investigations and intelligence findings proved that Russia was behind an attempt to damage a Ukrainian cargo plane on August 4 using a drone loaded with explosives, which was neutralized by a robot at the Leipzig/Halle airport. A second drone apparently collided with another cargo plane, and a third drone was located at the site ten days later.

The airport serves as a strategic hub for NATO and is in regular use by Ukrainian Antonov transport planes. The German Interior Minister stated that the drone's configuration, its components, the explosives, and the activation mechanism are all known from previous Russian hybrid operations. Two suspects have already been identified: a Belarusian citizen with a Russian passport who entered on a tourist visa, and another person with Latvian and Russian passports who landed in Berlin and departed from it two days before the failed attack.

In response, Berlin announced the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn and the closure of the "Russian House" cultural institution in Berlin, suspected of being a propaganda arm of the Kremlin. Moscow rejected the accusations and claimed that no evidence was presented. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced the closure of the German "Goethe-Institut" cultural centers in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg. Russian President Vladimir Putin called Germany's steps a grave mistake that contradicts the interests of its people, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko replied "maybe" to the question of whether Moscow is prepared to sever relations with Berlin.

Commission President von der Leyen addressed the incident severely:

"Leipzig symbolizes a new escalation on European Union soil directly attributed to Russia... These are military-grade materials operated by Russian agents. We will not tolerate this, and we must respond to Russian recklessness faster and better."

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte added that the alliance stands in full solidarity with Germany and warned against increasing threats:

"There is an increase in the risk to Europeans from the infiltration of drones and missiles into the countries of the eastern flank, and we are witnessing increased malicious activity aimed directly at our territory – from arson at factories producing defense equipment for Ukraine to the Russian hybrid attack in Leipzig."

At the same time, suspicions of further sabotage are increasing: in Germany, two electrical substations were attacked, one in the east and one in the west near Cologne. In Bergheim in the west of the country, damage was caused to power lines, leading to the shutdown of five units at two different coal-fired power plants, and the police found six launch devices in a nearby field.

The Interior Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, noted that directions of sabotage by a hostile state and far-left elements are being investigated. In addition, damage was caused to high-voltage lines near a coal-fired power plant in Brandenburg, and explosive devices were found. In Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced that a fire that broke out at a combat drone manufacturing plant in Skarżysko-Kamienna was caused by intentional arson and an act of sabotage, alongside an investigation into a fire at another plant in Lublin.

The European Union foreign ministers gathered in Ireland to promote coordinated enforcement and response measures, including imposing restrictions on the maritime "shadow fleet" used by Russia to bypass oil sanctions, tightening entry visas for Russian tourists, and banning entry for Russian military veterans. France, Belgium, and the Netherlands even summoned Russian ambassadors for reprimand talks.

On the economic level, countries such as Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland, and Spain are exerting pressure to use more than 193 billion euros of frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine – an initiative that was planned as early as the end of 2025 and is encountering resistance from Belgium, which fears legal liability. Alongside an existing loan of 90 billion euros to Ukraine, von der Leyen noted that Kyiv has requested additional billions of euros for the purchase of PAC-3 air defense missiles, and revealed that work is continuing on the Freyja project – a joint European-Ukrainian system for intercepting ballistic missiles, with the goal of increasing pressure on Moscow until its withdrawal.