Key facts
- An intact drone bomb was found attached to a Ukrainian aircraft at Leipzig Airport on August 4, 2026.
- The device contained a tin can packed with explosives and a metal plate stamped with seven circular indentations.
- Similar explosive-filled tin cans and stamped metal plates were found in Lithuania in 2024 and 2025.
- Western security officials link the Leipzig incident to a broader Russian intelligence mission based on travel records and intelligence reporting.
- German and European security officials attribute the campaign to Russia's GRU military intelligence service, specifically Unit 29155.
- Oleg Levushkin, a dual Latvian-Russian national suspected of preparing the Leipzig attack, has alleged ties to GRU Colonel Denis Smoljaninov.
An intact drone bomb discovered at Germany's Leipzig Airport on August 4, 2026, has provided investigators with crucial evidence that European officials believe points to a wider Russian intelligence campaign of sabotage and violence across the continent. The device, which struck a Ukrainian aircraft, contained a tin can packed with explosives and a metal plate with distinctive circular indentations.
This device bore striking similarities to explosives recovered from caches in Lithuania in 2024 and 2025. In Kaunas, Lithuania, in August 2024, police found two tin cans containing nearly a kilogram of explosives, concealed beneath artificial flowers at a cemetery. Subsequent discoveries in Lithuania in 2025 yielded more explosive-filled cans, with four featuring metal plates that forensic examinations suggested were made by the same machine.
Two Western security officials stated that the resemblance, combined with other evidence such as travel records and suspected logistics routes, links these incidents to a broader Russian intelligence mission. German and European security officials identify Russia’s GRU military intelligence service, particularly Unit 29155, as the primary orchestrator of this escalating campaign.
German authorities anticipate further "hybrid" operations as Russian President Vladimir Putin aims to disrupt military support for Ukraine and increase the political cost of backing Kyiv. Gerhard Schindler, former president of Germany’s BND Federal Intelligence Service, noted that such actions are intended to make the population fear direct military confrontation, thereby questioning the support for Ukraine.
The Russian Embassy in Berlin has denied any Russian involvement in sabotage activities in Europe, calling the allegations baseless.
Investigators suspect Oleg Levushkin, a dual Latvian-Russian national with alleged ties to GRU Colonel Denis Smoljaninov, of preparing the Leipzig attack. Levushkin, described as a GRU-linked logistics operative, reportedly traveled to Berlin via Turkey in late July 2026. German investigation files suggest explosives entered Germany via Bulgaria and Serbia, transported in the cavities of long-haul trucks. Levushkin's rental car was reportedly recorded near Leipzig Airport on July 31, 2026, for reconnaissance.
Smoljaninov is identified in a 2025 Lithuanian intelligence report as the head of the GRU’s Ukraine department, specializing in psychological operations and covert sabotage campaigns in Europe. European investigators also suspect shareholders of the Panama-registered private military company Longifolia, coordinated by Smoljaninov, of involvement in an operation where incendiary devices were sent to Poland and Britain in July 2024. One parcel ignited at Leipzig Airport, and another in Birmingham, England.