Germany blamed Russia for drones in Leipzig, Lavrov responded
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov assessed Germany's measures against Moscow regarding the attempted sabotage involving drones at Leipzig Airport as "the beginning of a real war." German authorities, meanwhile, state that the conclusion regarding Russia's potential responsibility was made based on the study of the unmanned aerial vehicles' settings and certain components in them.
Germany blamed Russia for the drone incident in Leipzig, Lavrov responded
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sharply criticized the measures taken by Germany in response to a potential sabotage carried out using drones at the Leipzig airport.
In his appearance on the "Vesti" program on September 6, Lavrov called the actions of the German side "generally, the beginning of a real war."
The head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Germany had expelled Russia's Consulate General in Bonn, canceled the relevant agreement, and was closing the "Russian House" in Berlin.
Lavrov also claimed that Berlin blamed Russia for the incident without sufficiently investigating it.
The incident at the Leipzig airport occurred on August 4. The German side is investigating it as an attempted sabotage against an An-124 cargo aircraft belonging to Ukraine.
Berlin spent nearly a month studying the details of the event and preparing response measures.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt stated that the conclusion regarding Russia's potential responsibility was made as a result of studying the settings and certain technical components of the unmanned aerial vehicles.
According to him, these components had also been used in other previous hybrid incidents.
Meanwhile, Jürgen Hardt, a foreign policy expert of the Christian Democratic and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) faction in the Bundestag, stated that Germany is not obliged to present all the evidence to the public.
In his opinion, under conditions where the accused party refuses to cooperate, a "chain of reliable facts that leaves no reasonable doubt" regarding Russia's responsibility may be sufficient.
German media had previously reported, citing law enforcement sources, that several drones were involved in the potential sabotage at the Leipzig airport.
According to the information, one of the drones equipped with explosives was found near the parking area of the Ukrainian cargo aircraft.