{"id":573216,"date":"2026-09-02T16:31:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T13:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reform.news\/?p=573216"},"modified":"2026-09-02T18:39:49","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T15:39:49","slug":"belarusian-man-with-russian-passport-suspected-of-sabotage-in-leipzig-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/belarusian-man-with-russian-passport-suspected-of-sabotage-in-leipzig-media","title":{"rendered":"Belarusian Man With Russian Passport Suspected Of Sabotage In Leipzig \u2014 Media"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\n<p>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 S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sueddeutsche.de\/politik\/leipzig-drohnen-anschlag-sprengstoff-russland-ermittlungen-low-level-agenten-hybrider-krieg-li.3540108\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At a press conference on Sept. 1, Germany&#8217;s interior minister said Russian intelligence services were behind the attempted sabotage. He said the operation was carried out by &#8220;low-level agents&#8221; but did not name them.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Investigators established that the Belarusian obtained an Italian tourist visa in late April in Minsk and used it to enter Germany, the outlet reported.<\/p>\n<p>According to SD, investigators doubt that the suspects will be apprehended and brought to justice.<\/p>\n<p>Experts from Germany&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>It was previously reported that on the night of Aug. 5, a drone carrying explosives was <a href=\"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/drone-carrying-explosives-found-near-ukrainian-aircraft-at-leipzig-airport\">found at Leipzig Airport<\/a> 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&#8217;s consulate general in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin, tightening entry controls for Russian citizens and increasing pressure on Russia&#8217;s shadow fleet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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 S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR reported. At a press conference on Sept. 1, Germany&#8217;s interior minister said [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":119,"featured_media":565569,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sharing_image":{"poster":"https:\/\/reform.news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/6a9843496988c.jpg","width":1200,"height":630,"template":"691142dd","mode":"auto"},"_sharing_image_fieldset":{"dTVKfmI95PYT":"Belarusian Man With Russian Passport Suspected Of Sabotage In Leipzig \u2014 Media"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[142339,142338,142373,143284,143094],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-573216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main","category-news","category-germany","category-world","category-incident"],"wps_subtitle":"","permalink_manager":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/119"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=573216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/573216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=573216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=573216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reform.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=573216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}