The European Union’s top diplomat said on Wednesday (September 2, 2026) that an attempted attack on a German airport blamed on Russia appears to be “state sponsored terrorism,” as EU countries weighed their response.
The drone was found near a Ukrainian plane and the device was defused. The German government on Tuesday (September 1, 2026) blamed Russia for the attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport on Aug. 4 using a drone laden with explosives and announced it would shut down a Russian consulate among other measures.
German officials said at the time that the incident posed a new level of danger.
“It is clear that it has all the hallmarks of state sponsored terrorism. The EU has slapped almost two dozen packages of sanctions against Russia over its war on Ukraine, targeting roughly 3,000 people and entities, including President Vladimir Putin, several oligarchs who back him and scores of Russian lawmakers.
The question is: what do we do about this,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters before chairing a meeting of the bloc’s defense ministers in Ireland. The EU already is planning to impose sanctions on more people over Russia’s war on Ukraine and has “in the pipeline 1,600 listings for the military complex of Russia, and maybe there are more to be added,” Ms. Kallas said.
