A Failed Attack on a German Airport Would Have Raised NATO's Defense Clause
The August attempt failed, but it came as Russia moved to step up covert strikes on the supply lines behind Ukraine.
WSJ What's News · AI Rout Finds a Floor. For Now.In early August, near the German city of Leipzig, drones carrying explosives attacked a cargo plane used to carry military assistance to Ukraine.
The assault failed. Had it worked as designed, it would have wrecked much of Leipzig/Halle, a major hub for air freight in Europe, in an attack that would also have caused human casualties.
That is why the failed attempt mattered. Bojan Pancevski, a correspondent covering European politics, reported that German officials would have had to consider asking for support under NATO's collective defense clause, the rule that treats an attack on one ally as an attack on all. He said "it would have been probably the worst attack on German soil since the Second World War."
The attempt came after Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a broader order. Based on Western intelligence and Russian sources, Pancevski reported that Putin, sometime in early summer, gave the go-ahead to intensify covert strikes inside allied countries in Europe in an effort to revive Russia's flagging war in Ukraine.
Russian generals had long wanted to hit the supply lines behind Ukraine. Pancevski described Europe as Ukraine's ``industrial hinterland,'' meaning the place where weapons are made, where parts for drones are manufactured, and where financing and other support are organized. He said Moscow now looks at countries such as Poland and Germany much as Kyiv looks at factories deep inside Russia, as targets in the rear that keep the fighting going.
After that approval, Pancevski reported, the campaign escalated dramatically. He called the Leipzig attempt "one of the first major warning shots."
Allies ``are now fully awake to what is happening,'' Pancevski said, but they remain in a bind. As democracies governed by the rule of law, he said, ``they're not going to respond with a tit-for-tat attack.'' ``Germany is not going to blow up a Russian airport'' in response, he added.
He said, "This is not declared warfare, but the instruments are becoming frighteningly similar to that of a real war." NATO countries, he said, are still struggling to find a response that would deter Russia and amount to some form of retaliation.
Questions people ask
Has NATO's collective defense clause ever actually been used?
Yes, only once. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time. That decision allowed allies to join surveillance, naval, and air operations in support of the U.S.-led response.
Why is Leipzig/Halle such an important airport?
It is one of Europe's largest cargo airports and the main European hub for carrier DHL, handling large volumes of express freight overnight. Because so much air cargo, medical supplies, and industrial parts move through it, a long shutdown would ripple through supply chains across the continent.
What else has Russia been accused of doing in Europe?
Western officials have linked Russia to arson at factories tied to Ukraine's weapons supply, interference with undersea infrastructure, and drone activity near airfields and ports. The Kremlin has denied involvement in sabotage operations and did not respond to the Journal's questions about this reporting.