LEIPZIG — A hole in the perimeter fence at Leipzig/Halle Airport closed the north runway on Saturday night, and the police who searched the grounds found neither a car nor anyone who should not have been there. Officers say it is “highly likely” a vehicle drove through.
It is the second security incident at the airport in three months, Anadolu Agency noted. In early August a drone rigged with explosives turned up next to Ukrainian Antonov cargo planes, the Leipzig airport drone case in which the German government blamed Russia for an attempted attack.
The fence damage was discovered shortly before 11 pm on Saturday (2100 GMT), Anadolu reported. Police spokeswoman Leverenz told the German daily Bild it was “highly likely that a vehicle drove through the fence”, but that “during the search of the grounds that night, neither a vehicle nor any unauthorized persons were found on the premises.”
Anadolu Agency reported that flight operations on the north side of the airport were suspended after what police called a security incident, and that DHL cargo planes using the Leipzig/Halle hub were rerouted to the south runway. The search was due to continue on Sunday with additional personnel, and the north runway remained closed to air traffic.
The damaged section was secured and cordoned off. It lies near three cargo aircraft that both Anadolu and TASS describe as Russian; Anadolu identifies them as An-124s, stationed at Leipzig/Halle since 2022 and no longer allowed to take off under EU sanctions against Russia. TASS reported that the planes cannot leave Germany because of sanctions. Neither report says how far the breach is from the aircraft.
Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt has said the August investigation confirmed Russian responsibility, according to Anadolu, and the federal government warned of further escalation in Russian hybrid attacks on critical infrastructure in Germany. Moscow rejected the allegations, and Russia’s EU mission called them “unfounded”.
Anadolu and TASS both attribute the police account to Bild, and neither reports any link between Saturday’s damage and the August case. They do not say what kind of vehicle it was or who was driving. Until a car or a driver turns up, the broken fence is the only evidence the reports describe.
