VSD withholds details on Leipzig drone DNA investigation

Lithuania’s State Security Department says it cannot disclose information about a drone carrying explosives found at Leipzig/Halle Airport, after German media reported that it bore DNA traces previously recorded in Lithuania, LRT reported.

“We have no publicly disclosable information on this matter and cannot reveal our methods,” the department told ELTA.

The VSD later said Lithuanian institutions were actively cooperating with foreign authorities to prevent and investigate criminal offences, including possible acts of sabotage. European law enforcement and intelligence agencies are working together and regularly exchanging information, it said, but added that no further details could be provided while specific investigations were ongoing.

German newspaper Die Zeit reported on Monday that DNA found on the drone had previously been recorded in Lithuania. The same traces were reportedly identified during an investigation into a 2024 arson attack at a DHL logistics centre in Leipzig.

The drone was found last week near a Ukrainian transport aircraft. It may have struck the aircraft’s wing, but the explosive device did not detonate. A second unidentified flying object was also observed at the airport and collided with another aircraft.

Die Zeit said the DNA traces have not yet been linked to a specific person. There is also no evidence that the Leipzig airport incident and the earlier DHL shipment fire are directly connected.

In July 2024, a shipment being transported by air caught fire at the Leipzig DHL logistics centre. Investigators later determined that it contained a concealed incendiary device. Similar incidents were recorded in the United Kingdom and Poland at the time.

In March 2026, Lithuania’s Prosecutor General’s Office charged five people over activities linked to those incidents.