Police probe explosive drone near Ukrainian cargo at Leipzig

German authorities are investigating a major security incident at Leipzig/Halle Airport after a drone fitted with an explosive device was discovered near a Ukrainian cargo plane, causing significant flight disruptions and triggering a separate midair collision involving a cargo aircraft. The events unfolded late on August 4 and into the early hours of August 5.

According to police, shortly before midnight on August 4, an unidentified flying object was sighted near the airport, prompting the immediate diversion of several aircraft, including a passenger flight. Concurrently, an airport employee discovered a suspicious object near the airport's south runway. Multiple reports, citing security sources, identified the object as a drone carrying an unknown explosive substance and a detonator. Bomb disposal specialists deployed a robot to the scene, and the detonator was removed. The drone was found in the immediate vicinity of a stationary Ukrainian Antonov Airlines An-124 transport aircraft, which bears Ukrainian national colors and the words "Be Brave Like Kherson" on its fuselage.

In a separate but potentially related incident, a DHL cargo aircraft collided with an unknown object...