The Albany Gazette - Germany blames Russia for airport drone incident, hits back with sanctions

The European Union expressed "full solidarity" with Germany over the attack, and NATO assured that it would defend its members.

Berlin will close Russia's consulate in the former capital Bonn later this month, and cancel the lease for the Russian House, a cultural centre in the capital city, said Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul.

"We are tightening entry controls for Russian nationals" and Germany would propose the listings of more Russian individuals for European Union sanctions, he added.

Germany's top diplomat also vowed that "we are increasing pressure on the Russian shadow fleet" -- a term for a fleet of old ships with opaque ownership Russia uses to get around Western sanctions.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that after assessing the drone technology used and other intelligence, "the government concludes that Russia is responsible for the hybrid attack in Leipzig on August 4".

"We do not view the Leipzig incident in isolation, but rather see it in the context of other hybrid actions," he said. "We assume that Germany is the target of further hybrid attacks by Russia."

European Union chief Ursula von der Leyen said Tuesday the bloc stands in "full solidarity" with Germany, while NATO chief Mark Rutte vowed the alliance's "full solidarity" with Berlin, and said the alliance "will continue to strengthen our ability to deter and defend all Allies against any threat."

NATO member Germany, which supports Ukraine in its fight against Russia, has long accused Moscow of targeting it with a campaign of hybrid attacks involving espionage and sabotage -- claims denied by Russia.

Germany has for months reported suspicious drone sightings over military and industrial sites, but the Leipzig incident raised the alarm as a drone found there carried explosives.

Police used a robot to defuse the device near a Ukrainian cargo plane. Another drone was reportedly found weeks later near the airport, also with traces of an explosive substance.

The airport in eastern Germany plays a key role in the transport of military goods, including by the German military and NATO allies, and also serves as a base for Ukraine's Antonov Airlines.

- 'Hub for espionage' -

Chancellor Friedrich Merz later said Germany had "found itself in the crosshairs of hybrid attackers".

But Berlin had so far refrained from blaming Russia while speaking only of the possible involvement of "foreign powers".

Merz warned on August 25 that the perpetrators of hybrid attacks against Germany would "pay for them", without naming a target.

There had also been much discussion of whether Germany should shut down a Russian cultural centre in Berlin that security services believe is an intelligence hub.

The Russian House of Science and Culture, a seven-storey building opened in 1984 in what was then East Berlin, is located near the Russian embassy.

Conservative MP and security policy expert Roderich Kiesewetter recently told Welt TV that the facility is assumed to be a hub for espionage.

He said more than 100 people lived there "with no one knowing who they are" and that the building's power consumption is unusually high.

It was "presumably filled with technical surveillance equipment", he said, and used by "people who are not well-disposed toward Germany".

In recent weeks, the German government explained its decision to keep the Russian House open so far by pointing to its bilateral contractual link to the Goethe Institute in Moscow.

(W.Walker--TAG)