Already a subscriber? Make sure to log into your account before viewing this content. You can access your account by hitting the “login” button on the top right corner. Still unable to see the content after signing in? Make sure your card on file is up-to-date.

Germany’s interior minister says the country is under daily hybrid attack from foreign powers, days after an explosive-laden drone was found at an airport used by NATO to move military equipment to Ukraine.

Getting into it: In an interview with Bild am Sonntag, Alexander Dobrindt said hostile governments are working to break Germany down politically and socially by keeping the public scared. “We’re not at war, but we are the daily target of hybrid warfare,” he said. “Espionage, sabotage, cyberattacks, or covert operations by foreign powers aimed at destabilising Germany or inflicting direct harm are a constant reality.” He did not name any country.

The drone, found last week at Leipzig/Halle Airport, sat just feet from a Ukrainian plane loaded with military ammunition. It was rigged with explosives, and Dobrindt said the only reason it never went off was a torn detonator.

Separately, a DHL cargo aircraft hit something unidentified on its climb out of the airport the same day, and Bild reported Sunday that investigators think it could have been a second drone acting as a “mothership,” filming the explosive one underneath it. Dobrindt called the discovery a “new level of danger” and described it as a “hybrid attack scenario,” leaving open the possibility of foreign state involvement.

Leipzig is not a random target. It serves as a NATO hub for military transports to Ukraine, is DHL’s largest European air cargo base, and is temporarily home to Ukrainian Antonov aircraft moved there to keep them out of Russia’s reach. The Wall Street Journal reported that US officials link the drone to Moscow, though Berlin has stopped short of saying so publicly and still calls the investigation open.

The Russian embassy called it a “fabricated provocation.”

Germany is now moving to scale up its anti-drone teams. According to Bild, the interior ministry wants to double its federal roster of anti-drone specialists from 150 to 300 and expand from four dedicated bases to eight.