In a case involving an attempted act of sabotage at Leipzig Airport, two suspects are a Belarusian citizen with a Russian passport and a Russian-born man with a Latvian passport. The Belarusian was identified through DNA, German outlets Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR reported.
At a press conference on Sept. 1, Germany’s interior minister said Russian intelligence services were behind the attempted sabotage. He said the operation was carried out by “low-level agents” but did not name them.
According to SZ, NDR and WDR, investigators suspect two people. One is a Russian-born man with a Latvian passport who has ties to Russian intelligence services. He apparently arrived in Germany in late July via Berlin Airport and then traveled to Leipzig in a rented car. Two days before the failed sabotage attempt, he left Germany via Berlin.
The second suspect was identified, according to the outlet, through DNA traces left at the crime scene. Genetic traces were found on one of the drones, on the inside of a can packed with explosives, and on an antenna attached to a tree near the airport. Investigators checked European DNA databases and found matches in Lithuania and Finland.
According to available information, the second suspect is a Belarusian citizen who also holds a Russian passport. He had previously attracted the attention of law enforcement agencies in various countries in connection with other crimes.
Investigators established that the Belarusian obtained an Italian tourist visa in late April in Minsk and used it to enter Germany, the outlet reported.
According to SD, investigators doubt that the suspects will be apprehended and brought to justice.
Experts from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office also believe that more drones may have been used in the failed sabotage attempt than previously known: three unmanned aerial vehicles were found at the site, either intact or in parts.
It was previously reported that on the night of Aug. 5, a drone carrying explosives was found at Leipzig Airport near a Ukrainian Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft. German authorities said Russian intelligence services were behind the attempted sabotage. In connection with the incident, Germany is closing Russia’s consulate general in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin, tightening entry controls for Russian citizens and increasing pressure on Russia’s shadow fleet.
