BERLIN, August 5. /TASS/. NATO has confirmed the detection of a drone near a Ukrainian aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport in Germany, DPA reported, citing a NATO spokesperson.

According to the news agency, security sources noted that the drone was carrying explosives with a detonator.

The Bild newspaper had previously reported that a drone carrying a small package and a detonator was discovered last night on the tarmac directly next to a Ukrainian An cargo plane. Investigators have not ruled out the possibility that it was an explosive device. The Federal Police deployed a robot to defuse it. The search for the person operating the drone has not yet been successful.

According to the newspaper, another cargo plane collided with an unidentified object six kilometers (nearly 3.7 miles) from Leipzig/Halle Airport at an altitude of 400 meters (approximately 0.2 miles). The plane was diverted to Hanover, where minor damage was found on the front of the aircraft after landing. The Lower Saxony police are treating the incident as a crime posing a threat to national security. The possibility of sabotage has not been ruled out.

Leipzig/Halle Airport is a key transit point for delivering Western weapons to Ukraine. In the first half of this year alone, the German Air Traffic Control Authority recorded 145 instances of flight restrictions due to unidentified drones appearing in the skies above German airports.