The German government said yesterday it had concluded that Russia was responsible for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle airport last month and ordered a series of measures in response, including the closure of a consulate and a Russian cultural centre in Berlin.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said intelligence findings indicated that individuals involved in the attack were acting on behalf of Russian state agencies.
“Taken together, police investigations, patterns of the offences and intelligence findings establish Russian responsibility for the attempted attack at Leipzig Airport,” he said.
Standing alongside Dobrindt, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Germany did not view Leipzig as an isolated incident.
“It fits into a broader pattern of Russian hybrid operations in Europe,” he said.
Wadephul said Germany’s response would include closing Russia’s consulate general in Bonn and terminating its agreement with the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin.
“Germany remains secure, and Germany will defend itself against adversaries who seek to create insecurity,” Wadephul said. “We will not allow Russia’s attacks to divide or intimidate us in our social cohesion.”
Responding to Germany’s announcement, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would respond to what she called Berlin’s ‘anti-Russian action’, according to Interfax news agency. She did not elaborate.
The Russian Embassy in Berlin had previously dismissed such accusations as ‘fabricated provocation’ and as ‘a new wave of anti-Russian hysteria in Germany’.
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