The failed GRU drone: How Russian intelligence failed in the sabotage operation at Leipzig airport

Following the failed sabotage operation at Germany's Leipzig/Halle airport in early August, many media outlets, citing law enforcement sources, reported on the possible involvement of the Russian military intelligence service, the GRU.

However, no concrete evidence was published at the time. According to the investigation by “The Insider”, evidence has now been obtained showing that the sabotage operation was organized by the GRU, while other individuals have also been identified.
involved in the plan, who had previously been linked to sabotage operations in Poland.

On August 4, a drone carrying explosives collided with the wing of a Ukrainian An-124 aircraft, which was parked at Leipzig/Halle Airport, in the German state of Saxony.

The device failed to explode and the drone fell to the ground, where it was found a few hours later by a bus driver. The plane was empty at the time, but shortly before the incident it had been transporting ammunition from France via Leipzig.

According to the investigation, if the sabotage had succeeded and the explosive had detonated on a plane loaded with ammunition, the consequences could have been much greater.

German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said that the police investigation and intelligence data pointed to Russian responsibility for the attempted attack. Earlier media reports had identified two suspects, Oleg L. and Andrei K., who were suspected of having ties to the GRU. One of them was reported to have Latvian citizenship, which was confirmed by Latvian intelligence authorities.

How was the operation organized?

According to the investigation, in January 2026, GRU Colonel Denis Smolyaninov was seen in Moscow together with Vladimir Trofimov, a knife-throwing coach and simultaneously a deacon of the Orthodox Church, as well as arms dealer Andrei Usachev.

Usachev, 54, began his military career in the Russian Air Force. In 2000, he was sentenced to nine years in prison for an armed robbery at a currency exchange. After his release, he became involved in the production and trade of weapons.

His company, Oruzheynaya Palata, initially developed after becoming a supplier to the Russian National Guard. But in 2023 it was reported that a system produced by the company, called the Vyzhigatel, was actually a cheap Chinese drone, the SkyfendHunter SHH100, illegally imported into Russia.

Usachev subsequently left the company, but his knowledge of military drones continued to be in demand, attracting the attention of Russian military intelligence.

Billing records obtained and analyzed by The Insider show that on July 13, 2026, Usachev called Oleg Levushkin, an acquaintance of his from the city of Pskov.

In everyday life, Levushkin was known as a motorcyclist and small businessman who ran a company that imported tea, coffee and spices. But, according to the investigation, for the GRU he had another important feature: Latvian citizenship, which allowed him to travel freely within the European Union.

It is suspected that they used people with criminal pasts.

According to the investigation, Levushkin's accomplice was Andrei Karshakov, a Belarusian citizen living in Russia and the person suspected of directly carrying out the failed operation in Leipzig.

German media had previously reported that traces of Karshakov's DNA had been found on an antenna, which, according to investigators, was used to amplify the drone's signal as the operator directed it towards the target.

The investigation revealed that this was not the first time Karshakov was suspected of being involved in an act of sabotage.

On July 25, 2024, a shelf of plant protection products and insecticides caught fire in a Leroy Merlin supermarket in the Polish city of Łódź. The fire was extinguished within an hour and the damage was estimated at around 200 zlotys, or approximately 45 euros. At the time, the probable cause was described as a violation of storage rules.

However, authorities had spotted two suspicious individuals in Łódź at the time of the fire. The Insider identified them through videos showing them withdrawing money from a local ATM.

One of them turned out to be Karshakov, while the other was another Belarusian citizen, Maksim Lapunov.

Flight records show that Lapunov was also involved in the Leipzig operation. On July 19, 2026, two weeks before the drone was discovered at the German airport, he traveled from St. Petersburg to Ankara and then to Belgrade, all within the same day.

According to "The Insider's" sources in a European law enforcement agency, Lapunov likely traveled from Serbia to Germany.

The investigation does not exclude the possibility that other people may have participated in the operation. Border crossing records show that Karshakov often traveled with other Belarusian associates living in Russia: Vyacheslav Aysin, former police officer Denis Shulgan, and Roman Kovalevsky, who has a criminal record in Russia for theft and robbery.

Their role in the Leipzig operation remains unclear. However, investigators have noted that Aysin regularly traveled to Germany, including to the city of Leipzig.

The GRU and the recruitment of people with criminal records

GRU Colonel Denis Smolyaninov was born in 1976 in Chelyabinsk and graduated from the Chelyabinsk Higher Military Aviation School for Navigators.

He then served in Smolensk and received further training at the GRU Academy in Moscow. He later transferred to St. Petersburg, where he worked at the GRU's 172nd Command and Reconnaissance Center, with a focus primarily on Ukraine.

According to the investigation, Smolyaninov was involved in recruiting people with criminal pasts to carry out missions outside Russia.

As early as 2023, an independent Russian investigation had reported that he had recruited neo-Nazis previously convicted of murder to act as agents in Ukraine.

Among the people recruited by Smolyaninov, according to the investigation, there were also well-known figures of the Russian criminal world.

One of them was former GRU officer Vladimir Borisov, known by the nickname “Praporshchik.” He had founded the Falcon-95 organized crime group in St. Petersburg in the 90s and had used several methods learned during his service in military intelligence, including advanced eavesdropping techniques.

The criminal group was involved in several murders, kidnappings and illegal business takeovers. However, its leader avoided serious punishment and was only given a suspended sentence.

In 2014, Borisov attempted to create his own private military company. According to the investigation, this attempt laid the foundation for his cooperation with Smolyaninov, at a time when the GRU was helping to create private military companies as a cover for its operations.

In 2017, Borisov was declared wanted in a case of illegally taking control of the State Institute of Architectural Design and Construction. He went into hiding in Bulgaria and was extradited to Russia in 2021.

He was believed to be serving his sentence in a Russian prison. However, The Insider says it has confirmed that he was released shortly after his initial incarceration and received a new passport, which he then used for numerous trips abroad.

The investigation by "The Insider" and "Der Spiegel" concludes that the failed operation at Leipzig/Halle airport was part of a wider network of sabotage activities, where, according to evidence published by investigators, Russian military intelligence used individuals with criminal connections to carry out operations in Europe.