NATO confirms drone sighting near Ukrainian plane at Leipzig airport

DPAWed, August 5, 2026 at 9:03 AM UTC1 min readAdd Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.

A drone was spotted near a Ukrainian aircraft at Germany's Leipzig/Halle Airport overnight, NATO confirmed on Wednesday, after flight operations were suspended following what police described as a security incident.

According to security sources, the drone was fitted with explosives and a detonator.

Several aircraft, including a passenger plane, were diverted after an unidentified flying object was reported and a suspicious item was found at the eastern German airport.

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The northern section of the airport resumed operations early on Wednesday, while the southern runway remained closed as investigations continued.

The suspicious item was found near the southern runway and examined by police, who deployed a bomb disposal robot.

Police were investigating whether the unidentified flying object and the suspicious item were connected.

There was no immediate danger, a police spokesman said.