Germany on Tuesday judged Russia "responsible" for sending the drone loaded with explosives discovered at the beginning of August at Leipzig airport and announced retaliatory measures against Moscow. If these reprisals appear above all "symbolic", they nevertheless undermine Russian intelligence operations.

Published on: 02/09/2026 - 18:44

On Tuesday, September 1, Germany officially accused Russia of being behind the drone loaded with explosives discovered at the beginning of August at Leipzig airport. To mark Berlin's condemnation, the head of German diplomacy, Johann Wadephul, announced at the same time a series of retaliatory measures: the closure in Bonn of the country's last Russian consulate and the cultural center of the "Russian House" in Berlin; the “strengthening” of pressure on the “Russian ghost fleet” and a proposal to include new Russian citizens on European sanctions lists.

“Germany is taking one of the first concrete diplomatic steps,” explains Julian Pawlak, specialist in security and defense issues at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP). If other sabotage actions have already been attributed by Berlin to Moscow since 2022 and the start of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, this is the first time that the country has provided a diplomatic response at this level.

These measures send "a simple message to Russia: 'We disapprove of your actions and we are reacting'", analyzes Christian Kaunert, specialist in international security issues at Dublin City University.

If he considers that this response from Berlin is essentially "symbolic", he emphasizes that by closing the consulate in Bonn, Germany is "dealing a blow to Russian intelligence operations" which pass through diplomatic representations. Of course, there is still the Russian embassy in Berlin, but this decision "makes it logistically more difficult for Russia to continue some of its activities."

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Silence of Friedrich Merz

Absent Tuesday during the press conference, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made no statement. To announce its retaliatory measures against Moscow, Germany therefore chose to send to the front line its Minister of the Interior, Alexander Dobrindt, and its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Johann Wadephul. An “intelligent and judicious” choice for Christian Kaunert.

“It was probably wiser for the chancellor not to speak personally, in order to maintain room for maneuver to be able to dialogue with Russian leaders later,” he believes, either after new Russian attacks on German territory, or during possible peace negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. “If the chancellor had spoken publicly, it would have made this possibility much more difficult in the future.”

Last week, the German Chancellor was careful not to single out Moscow when he warned the perpetrators of hybrid attacks – cyberattacks, acts of sabotage, disinformation – that they would “pay the price”.

Coordination within the EU?

Since Berlin's announcement, European reactions have been numerous. Russian charge d'affaires in Paris, Lisbon and the European Union were summoned, while the Brussels executive provided its support to Germany.

“This is an attack carried out with military equipment by Russian agents on European Union soil. We will not tolerate it,” denounced the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, while the head of European diplomacy, the Estonian Kaja Kallas, considered that the sending of a Russian drone to Leipzig presented “the characteristics of an act of terrorism supported by a state”.

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Reactions which suggest that "even before Germany announces its decisions, it is probable that there was coordination within the EU and with NATO. We can therefore expect a whole series of measures in the coming days", estimates Christian Kaunert.

Because one of the objectives of the hybrid attacks attributed to Russia in Europe is to dissuade Europeans from supporting Ukraine. For Julian Pawlak, "the governments and populations of European countries must realize that this is part of a broader campaign aimed at destabilizing and sowing fear within societies, and must not allow themselves to be intimidated by such actions."

In any case, Berlin's response did not seem to impress Vladimir Putin. After summoning the German charge d'affaires to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the master of the Kremlin brushed aside the retaliatory measures, linked according to him to "upcoming electoral campaigns" in Germany.

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