The Bundeswehr has reported several hundred security-relevant drone incidents since the start of the war in Ukraine. A spokesperson for the Bundeswehr’s Operational Command informed the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland that since the Russian full-scale invasion began in Ukraine in February 2022, the reporting of drone sightings involving the Bundeswehr has significantly increased and remained consistent. Overall, hundreds of alleged drone overflights in the Bundeswehr’s operational area have been logged in recent years. These reports primarily concern individual drones, although sometimes drone swarms have been detected. While the spokesperson declined to provide specific details, he highlighted that Germany faces continuous hybrid threats, including disinformation, fake news, cyberattacks, espionage, and sabotage.
In response, the Alliance of Ukrainian Organizations in Germany is calling for consequences. Nataliya Pryhornytska, the organization’s vice chair, commented to the RND that finding a drone fitted with explosive material at Leipzig/Halle airport is “more than a security incident.” She suggests this incident aligns with a long-standing pattern: Russia has utilized hybrid methods for years to destabilize European nations and test their infrastructure. Although investigations must confirm whether Russia was directly behind the Leipzig incident, she insists that the event should be treated as a model, given that hybrid warfare flourishes in gray areas, deliberately remaining below the threshold of a conventional military attack.
Pryhornytska further argued that investigative caution should not lead to strategic inaction. She stated that when military installations and logistical networks are targeted, the broader security political context must be recognized. Germany, she stressed, must cease treating hybrid attacks as a threat only once their authorship is definitively established. Instead, strategic resilience requires readiness and a clear plan of action, ensuring that society is decisively involved in that process.
