Explosive-Carrying Drone: Dispute Over Evidence of Russia's Guilt

Domestic policy spokespeople from the CDU/CSU and SPD have rejected calls from the opposition for the federal government to back up its accusations against Russia following the failed drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport with evidence. As is always the case with criminal investigations, the public prosecutor’s office is in charge of the proceedings, said Sebastian Fiedler, the SPD parliamentary group’s spokesperson on domestic policy, on the sidelines of a special session of the Bundestag’s Committee on Internal Affairs. And if one wants these investigations to be successfully concluded, “then one does not disclose any detailed evidence to the public in the meantime; rather, that evidence belongs in court afterward.”

Greens Sought Special Session

The Green Party parliamentary group had requested the special session to obtain new insights into the hybrid threat posed by Russia and into German countermeasures. The background to this is the discovery of a drone in early August at Leipzig/Halle Airport. There, a drone rigged with explosives had been discovered next to Ukrainian cargo planes. The federal government holds Russia responsible for the attempted attack. Moscow denies this.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had described German measures against Russia in response to the incident as a “serious mistake.” “Where is the evidence?” asked the Kremlin leader.

Coalition Calls for Trust in the Government

Fiedler called on the opposition to trust the federal government on this issue. “You can be certain that if the Chancellor, if the Federal Minister of the Interior, stands before the press and says, ‘It was Russia, and there is no doubt about it’—and I expressly agree with that—then it was indeed Russia.” Several AfD politicians had expressed doubts that Russia was responsible for the explosive-laden drone and demanded that the federal government provide not just evidence but proof of this. If the AfD, the BSW, and even the Left Party demand that evidence be presented here, “then they’re playing exactly Putin’s game, right down to the choice of words,” said Alexander Throm (CDU), the domestic policy spokesperson for the Union parliamentary group.

Members of the Green Party and The Left accused the federal government of failing to adequately inform them about the findings regarding the attempted attack in recent weeks.