German claims that Russia attempted a potentially deadly sabotage attack in Leipzig have exploded into a major diplomatic bust-up between the two countries.
Russia says it will close German cultural centres in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Yekaterinburg after Berlin said the Kremlin was behind the would-be attack. Berlin officials have warned they will shut down a Russian culture centre in the German capital and also a Kremlin consul in Bonn.
Moscow's Response and Escalation
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov hit out at Germany, warning that Moscow will effectively wipe out German cultural influence across Russia. He stormed: “They deliberately took this step – they could not have failed to understand – which means the end of their cultural presence in Russia.”
The bust-up centres on Berlin saying a drone planted next to Ukrainian cargo planes in east Germany’s Leipzig-Halle airport was a Kremlin weapon. It was discovered on the evening of August 4 and defused at the airport, which is home to a fleet of Ukrainian Antonov cargo planes.
Details of the Leipzig Incident
That drone failed to explode as the detonator was apparently faulty, and investigators suspect a second drone collided with a cargo aircraft nearby. A third drone was reportedly found near the airport 10 days later. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the Leipzig airport attack followed the "well-established pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe.”
It is believed the facility is a major hub for the transportation of military and civilian aid to Ukraine to help it fight Russia’s full-scale invasion.
UK Backs Germany
British Foreign Office officials on Thursday backed Germany’s position on Russia, branding the attempted attack "egregious and reckless.”
The Foreign Office summoned Moscow’s diplomat in London, Charge d’Affaires Mr Vasily Tsyganov, for a showdown and said in a statement: "The UK stands in full solidarity with Germany following Russia’s egregious and reckless attack on Leipzig airport. The UK’s commitment to defending our NATO Allies and supporting Ukraine is ironclad, and any attempt by Russia to undermine our united resolve is futile.”
"This is the latest in a clear pattern of attempts by the Russian State to undermine our collective security. That is why today we summoned the Russian Charge D’Affaires to condemn the attack in the strongest terms, and underline that alongside our European and NATO partners, the UK will continue to expose Russian hostile activity at every level.”
But Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused Germany of planting evidence to blame Moscow for the attempted drone attack at Leipzig airport. Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for Russia's foreign ministry, said Moscow would respond in a "mirror-image" fashion to Germany's measures.
She said: "Berlin is sponsoring terrorism," referring to Germany’s military and economic support provided to Ukraine. The bust-up follows a string of Russia-sponsored incidents on European soil that officials have described as "hybrid warfare." This method of warfare usually comes in the form of non-lethal espionage or sabotage that falls below the threshold of a declaration of war. But in 2018 Russia’s Novichok nerve agent attack on former KGB spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury resulted in the death of local woman Dawn Sturgess.
Although Skripal and his daughter Yulia survived the attack they were fighting for their lives in hospital for some time. Police officer Nick Bailey and Ms Sturgess’s partner Charlie Rowley were also left seriously ill by the attack. Other Russia-sponsored murders have taken place in the UK, including the poisoning of ex-KGB man Alexander Litvinenko in 2006. American CIA Director John Ratcliffe recently made a surprise trip to Moscow where he warned the Russian government against escalating tensions with NATO.
