German airport drone-bomb: Could Russia be involved?
A previous Russian-backed plot involving Leipzig airport could provide clues. In 2024, a parcel containing a sophisticated incendiary device caught fire at the airport's DHL
A previous Russian-backed plot involving Leipzig airport could provide clues. In 2024, a parcel containing a sophisticated incendiary device caught fire at the airport's DHL hub shortly before it was loaded onto a plane. Similar packages then ignited in the UK and Poland, causing extensive damage. A group of men are currently on trial in both Lithuania and Poland, where prosecutors believe they were part of a substantial network of proxies recruited by Russian military intelligence.
But there was a subplot that has been little discussed before. Last September, Lithuanian prosecutors said that investigators had also seized RDX explosives meant for "other terrorist attacks". The amount was significant: equivalent to 6kg of TNT. "Some of the devices were manufactured to intensify the blast," the prosecutor added. The BBC has since had access to case documents that describe how several of the men on trial were paid to transport those explosives around Europe, concealed in cans of sweetcorn and chopped tomatoes.
The detonators were hidden inside headphone sets. The suspects also handled drone parts and the case talks specifically of attachments, suitable for holding a bomb. Prosecutors allege that some of the items were brought into the EU from the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Almost two dozen suspects have been charged with terror offences, but with the men's handlers still at large, believed to be in Russia, it is not clear whether the entire network was disbanded or all the hidden material found.
While there is no evidence of a link to the Leipzig drone bomb, the 2024 plot certainly highlights the potential.
The BriefWire