Russia has rejected German claims that it was behind a suspected drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport in early August, with President Vladimir Putin suggesting the allegations were driven by Berlin’s domestic political and economic troubles.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Putin argued that the German chancellor is struggling with public confidence amid factory closures, job losses and falling living standards, and accused Berlin of using the supposed threat of an “aggressive Russia” to justify its policies.
“And where is the evidence? Well, they planted the evidence,” Putin said, describing Germany’s confrontational stance as a “gross mistake” that runs counter to the interests of the German people.
Putin drew parallels with similarly “nonsensical” earlier accusations that Moscow had sabotaged the Nord Stream pipelines carrying its own gas to Europe, before the blasts were eventually blamed on a supposedly rogue Ukrainian team.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt and Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul announced new measures against Russia on Tuesday, linking them to the August 4 drone incident. The measures include closing the Russian Consulate General in Bonn from September 18 and terminating the lease of the Russian House in Berlin. Germany will also tighten border controls for Russian nationals, draw up a new list of individuals for EU sanctions, and increase pressure on what Berlin calls Russia’s “shadow fleet.”
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Berlin had failed to provide any evidence substantiating its claims, dismissing the incident as an “absolutely trumped-up and far-fetched” pretext to further damage bilateral relations.
According to Dobrindt, the German government concluded that Russia was “the perpetrator” behind the incident, in which an explosive-laden drone was found lying between Ukrainian Antonov cargo planes on the apron at Leipzig/Halle Airport.
Germany has “failed to present any even remotely convincing or serious evidence” of Russian involvement, Zakharova said. “There is none and there cannot be any.”
Zakharova argued that German authorities had long sought to target both the Russian Consulate General in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin, and had now come up with an “absolutely trumped-up and far-fetched” pretext to further damage bilateral relations.
Berlin “will get a fitting response,” she warned.
Zakharova also took aim at the timing of Berlin’s announcement, noting that it came on September 1 – the anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland in 1939.
She questioned whether German officials had chosen the date out of “stupidity and ignorance” or were “literally announcing a return to their roots” and “ritually demonstrating their intentions.”
“On September 1, 1939, Germany unleashed World War II and, together with the countries of the Hitlerite Axis, killed 70 million people, 27 million of them ours,” Zakharova said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also accused Germany of pursuing further escalation, saying Berlin had failed to provide any arguments substantiating its accusations against Moscow.
German officials have called for the closure of Russian diplomatic missions and the Russian House, a cultural and language center in Berlin, for some time.
In June, Roderich Kiesewetter, a senior MP and member of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said that Germany “should expel any remaining [Russian] diplomats.” He also described the Russian House as part of Moscow’s “influence” network.
Last year, Kiesewetter caused controversy at home after arguing that Germany should “take the war to Russia.”
EU officials have previously invoked the threat of drones to warn of alleged Russian “hybrid attacks” and justify the bloc’s military buildup.
Between September and December last year, suspected drones were reported over airports and military facilities in several EU countries, including Denmark, Belgium, Ireland and Germany. In many cases, no wreckage was recovered, no perpetrators identified, and no footage of the alleged drones released. Nevertheless, officials repeatedly suggested that the incidents could be part of Russian “hybrid” operations.
Similar claims emerged in September 2025, when EU officials and Western media reported that Russia had allegedly jammed GPS signals on a plane carrying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to Bulgaria.
Flight-tracking service Flightradar24 subsequently cast doubt on that account, saying that the aircraft had maintained “good GPS signal quality from take-off to landing.”