Two Russian suspects identified in Germany airport drone 'hybrid attack'

The German government on Tuesday blamed Russia for the Leipzig airport incident, saying it employed "low-level agents", and announced measures including the shuttering of the Russian consulate in Bonn and a Russian cultural centre in Berlin.

According to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) daily and the regional public broadcasters NDR and WDR, the first suspect is a Belarussian national who also holds a Russian passport and is believed to have entered the Schengen area with an Italian tourist visa issued in Minsk.

This man, whose DNA was reportedly found at the airport, had already attracted attention for offences committed in the Baltic states, the outlets say.

The second suspect, who reportedly holds both Latvian and Russian passports, is believed to have acted as logistics coordinator and instructor for the hybrid attack.

Having arrived at Berlin airport at the end of July, he is alleged to have rented a car to travel to the Leipzig region before leaving Germany two days before the suspected attack.

The two men were reportedly identified thanks to DNA traces found by police at and around the airport: on a drone, in a tin can filled with explosives, and on an antenna attached to a tree.

European databases made it possible to establish matches, notably in Lithuania and Finland, which were corroborated by intelligence service information, according to the same media outlets.

The drone was discovered in the secure cargo operations area at Leipzig airport, near a Ukrainian cargo plane.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday that he had discussed "Russia's attack" on German soil with Merz by telephone.

"This is yet another Russian escalation, and it is important that Germany responded," Zelensky said in a post on X.

According to the German press, another drone was later discovered near the airport, also bearing traces of explosive substances.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Germany's reaction was a "mistake, a serious one".

Russia said Wednesday it was summoning Germany's charge d'affaires to protest what it called "anti-Russian actions and statements by the German authorities".