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Germany Closes Russian Consulate After Failed Drone Attack

Berlin's attribution to Russia has prompted reciprocal cultural closures, spurred arrests and widened debate over giving operators new legal powers to protect power grids and defence sites.

Overview

  • On Thursday the German government publicly blamed Russia for a failed explosive drone attack on Leipzig/Halle airport and announced the closure of the Russian consulate in Bonn as one of its countermeasures.
  • Investigators say they have identified two suspects in the Leipzig case—a man born in Russia holding a Latvian passport and a man from Belarus with a Russian passport—and inquiries into their roles are ongoing.
  • Police are treating recent incidents at the Turnow-Preilack substation in South Brandenburg and an Umspannwerk in Bergheim as likely coordinated sabotage after launch devices and pyrotechnics were found and a claim letter was submitted for examination.
  • Bavarian prosecutors charged two people after a midnight arson attack near Munich that targeted a construction site close to defence-sector offices, with investigators treating the act as politically motivated.
  • Ministers and industry groups are pressing for clearer legal rights for critical-infrastructure operators to use cameras and drone-defence systems, a push that now collides with rising AfD support in eastern state polls and could have consequences for Chancellor Friedrich Merz.