An explosive-laden drone was found near a Ukrainian plane at the Leipzig/Halle airport in east Germany late on Tuesday, prompting a counterterrorism investigation and fears of another hybrid attack on European soil.

Airport workers discovered the drone in a restricted cargo area near the southern runway at one of Europe’s biggest cargo hubs. Flights were later suspended and several aircraft were diverted from the airport.

Most operations had resumed by Wednesday morning as one runway was reopened, but the southern strip stayed closed while analysts examined the drone and removed its detonator, according to authorities.

Interior minister Alexander Dobrindt said the incident represented a ‘new threat scenario’ following an emergency meeting with the heads of Germany's security services on Wednesday night.

Here’s all we know about the explosive drone incident at Leipzig airport:

What happened?

It was first reported early on Wednesday that German police had been called in to investigate a suspicious object found near a runway at the airport after an ‘overnight security incident’ halted traffic.

The southern runway was closed while specialists examined the object using explosives-disposal technology, a police spokesperson said.

Germany's Bild newspaper reported that the drone had been found lying in the immediate vicinity of a Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane.

The airline has used Leipzig/Halle as an operating base since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

Authorities said there had been no danger to passengers or airport staff and most operations resumed by morning after one runway was reopened.

Separately, a DHL cargo aircraft collided mid-air with an unknown object shortly after take-off from the airport, prompting an immediate unscheduled landing in Hanover, a source told Reuters.

Who is suspected of carrying it out?

Germany opened a counterterrorism investigation on Wednesday, but the interior minister said it was “part of the nature of hybrid threats” that it was not immediately clear from where it originated.

He noted that it appeared to have been “very professionally carried out”.

All speculation about the explosives, the drone, its origin, and who is behind it, is now part of the investigation, the Mr Dobrindt said.

Oleksii Makeiev, the Ukrainian ambassador to Germany, accused Russia of being behind the incident.

“Who else could it be but Russia?” he told Germany’s Welt TV.

German airports are already on high alert after a series of unauthorised drone overflights at sites including military facilities, energy terminals, seaports and logistics companies.

Federal police have said the overflights could have been organised by Russian agents.

European security agencies have separately been investigating a series of incendiary devices concealed in parcels that caught fire in 2024, raising concerns about sabotage of air cargo operators.

Russia has denied any involvement in the 2024 incidents and the more recent overflights. It has not commented on the latest incident in Germany.

How has Germany responded

Mr Dobrindt said on Wednesday evening that the incident was a hybrid attack which opened a new level of danger.

“Drone sightings and drone threats in a hybrid context are something we have known from the past, but a drone armed with explosives being present on airport grounds is a new threat scenario,” he said, after convening an emergency meeting with the heads of Germany's security services.

Anti-extremism prosecutors and counterterrorism officers have taken over the investigation after experts confirmed the drone was carrying explosives.

“Such threat situations are not carried out by amateurs, but must be prepared very professionally and executed professionally,” Mr Dobrindt told reporters.

A Nato official told the Guardian: “We are aware of the incident, which the German authorities continue to investigate.”

Investigators were also examining what a cargo plane had struck in the air after being diverted from the airport in eastern Germany during the disruption.

Minor damage was discovered after it landed in Hanover, authorities said. A source familiar with the incident said the plane belonged to DHL.