Drone alarm in Europe

German minister: Every day we are exposed to attacks

This week's drone attack on the airport in Leipzig is just the latest in a long line, warns the country's Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt in an interview with Bild.

- We are daily targets for hybrid warfare. Espionage, sabotage, cyberattacks and secret operations by foreign powers aimed at destabilizing or directly harming Germany are a constant reality, he says.

Dobrindt said earlier this week that the incident in Leipzig, where a bomb-laden drone tried to attack a Ukrainian cargo plane, was probably orchestrated by a state actor without pointing out anyone specific. Experts and analysts at the same time confidently directed their suspicions at the Kremlin.

The drone alarm — it's about the matter

• A drone with an explosive charge was found near a Ukrainian cargo plane at Leipzig airport in Germany late Tuesday night.
• According to several German media outlets, the drone was carrying the explosive Semtex, hidden in a tin can. It was disarmed by police after a bus driver kicked it down.
• Germany's Interior Minister has called the incident a hybrid attack and experts point to shortcomings in Germany's drone defense.
• Information that the Ukrainian plane was loaded with ammunition has been denied by a CDU member.
• Earlier this summer, a report was released by the think tank IISS, which concluded that Russia has been conducting a "drone offensive" against Europe over the past two years - often against airports.