Germany Is Daily Target of Hybrid Warfare, Says Minister

The remarks came days after a drone fitted with an explosive device was found at the Leipzig/Halle Airport.

Police officers work in the vicinity of an Antonov cargo plane, near which a drone was found, at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Schkeuditz, Germany, on Aug. 5, 2026. Axel Schmidt/Reuters

Germany is facing daily hybrid warfare attacks from foreign adversaries, a senior minister has said, following a suspected attempted drone attack on the Leipzig/Halle Airport last week.

Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt told BILD on Aug. 8 that while he would not use the term “war” to describe the current situation, he believed that “the palpable strategic goal of foreign powers is to subjugate us politically and socially.”

“We are a daily target of hybrid warfare. Espionage, sabotage, cyberattacks, or covert operations by foreign powers aimed at destabilizing Germany or directly harming it are a constant reality,” Dobrindt told the German newspaper.

Dobrindt did not identify a particular country.

A hybrid attack falls short of an act of war and can include sabotage, propaganda, and other non-overt tactics.

On Aug. 4, a drone fitted with an explosive device was found at the Leipzig airport by staff, with German prosecutors saying there was sufficient evidence to suggest that an explosion was intended to be caused by the craft.

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office said on Aug. 6 that “this constitutes a serious attack on the transport and logistics infrastructure in Germany.”

Leipzig/Halle Airport is a key cargo hub and military airport in the state of Saxony in eastern Germany.

It is the main base for NATO’s Strategic Airlift International Solution. Among other functions, it delivers equipment to strengthen the ​defense pact’s eastern flank, ⁠using a small fleet of Ukrainian-made Antonov cargo planes.

Dobrindt, at the time, described the incident as a “hybrid attack.”

While authorities have not identified any suspects, Dobrindt said he could not rule out “foreign powers.”

In the past, German lawmakers have blamed Russia for hybrid attacks—accusations that Moscow has repeatedly denied.

The Russian Embassy in Berlin on Aug. 7 dismissed the incident, denying that Moscow was involved in any hybrid attacks.

The embassy said in a post on Telegram on Friday that the incident was a “hastily concocted provocation,” saying it was another unsubstantiated accusation against Russia.

Drones Spotted Over Military Base

Days after the airport incident, German authorities said that two drones were spotted over a military base in the western part of the country.

A spokesperson for the German armed forces, the Bundeswehr, said the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were sighted at around 10 p.m. local time on Aug. 6 at the base in Mechernich in the state ​of North Rhine-Westphalia, some 22 miles from the ⁠border with Belgium.

Drones have become a major feature of warfare in the Russia–Ukraine conflict, with UAVs from both sides causing damage to infrastructure and fuel supply lines.

UAVs operating close to the European border, however, had resulted in vehicles unintentionally straying into NATO territory.

Late last month, Romanian officials said that they had shot down three Russian drones in as many days, prompting Bucharest to expel the Russian ambassador, Vladimir Lipaev.

Romania, a NATO member, shares a 400-mile land border with Ukraine, and Russian UAVs have repeatedly violated its airspace during the more than four-year war.

Lipaev dismissed the alleged Russian violations of Romanian airspace, protesting what he said was an “unjustified expulsion” of an embassy employee.

Ukrainian drones have also been downed in allied territory, though Kyiv has frequently blamed the incursions on electronic interference from Russian military forces.

Reuters contributed to this report.