Investigators Identify Second Belarusian Linked to Sabotage Attempt at Leipzig Airport
Reform.news Editorial Team · 9 October 2026, 13:39
https://reform.news/en/investigators-identify-second-belarusian-linked-to-sabotage-attempt-at-leipzig-airport/Belarusian Maksim Lapunov, who previously changed his surname and used a passport issued in the name of Maksim Kolosov, may have been involved in a failed drone sabotage attempt at Leipzig Airport in Germany. The Insider identified him in an investigation conducted jointly with the German magazine Der Spiegel. Earlier, another Belarusian, Andrei Karshakov, was reported to have possibly been involved in the incident.
According to the investigators, Karshakov and Lapunov may also have been involved in the arson attack on a Leroy Merlin hypermarket in the Polish city of Łódź in July 2024. The fire caused an estimated €45,000 in damage. Journalists identified the men using video footage showing them withdrawing money from an ATM in Łódź.
Investigators found genetic traces of Karshakov on an antenna used to boost the drone’s control signal in Leipzig. According to The Insider, Lapunov may also have taken part in the operation. On July 19, 2026, he flew from St. Petersburg to Ankara and then travelled to Belgrade. Sources at law enforcement agencies in a European country told the outlet that he was highly likely to have been in Germany on the days surrounding the incident.
The sabotage attempt took place on the evening of August 4, 2026. A drone carrying explosives struck the wing of a Russian An-124 Ruslan transport aircraft parked at Leipzig Airport. The device failed to detonate and fell to the ground. Shortly before the incident, the aircraft had transported ammunition from France via Leipzig.
The Insider links the operation to Russia’s Main Directorate of the General Staff (GRU). According to the outlet, one of the alleged organisers was GRU Colonel Denis Smolyaninov, who recruited Oleg Levushkin, a Latvian citizen whose passport allowed him to travel freely within the European Union.
According to booking records, Levushkin bought a ticket to Istanbul on July 26, flew there the following day, and then travelled to Berlin. There, he rented a car and headed towards Leipzig. On the afternoon of August 4, just hours before the attack, he purchased a return ticket from North Macedonia to Moscow via Istanbul.
The Insider also does not rule out the possibility that other Belarus-born individuals were involved in the Leipzig sabotage attempt.
“Border crossing data indicates that Karshakov often traveled with his accomplices, also Belarusians living in Russia: Vyacheslav Aysin, former police officer Denis Shulgan, and Roman Kovalevsky (who has a rap sheet in Russia that includes theft and robbery). The role of Karshakov’s accomplices in the Leipzig sabotage remains unclear, though it is interesting to note that Aysin regularly visited Germany — including the city of Leipzig,” the report says.
The investigation also mentions Andrei Usachev, a former paratrooper and arms dealer who, according to the outlet, maintained contact with Levushkin. Usachev previously headed the company Oruzheynaya Palata, which supplied products to the Russian National Guard. In 2023, it emerged that the company’s Vyzhigatel system was a Chinese drone that had been illegally imported into Russia.
German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt previously stated that the results of the police investigation and intelligence information pointed to Russia’s responsibility for the incident.