On August 4, 2026, German authorities found the device at Leipzig/Halle Airport and later blamed Russia based on forensic evidence from its components and cyber elements. Berlin responded by closing the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin, while tightening rules for Russian nationals.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the claims as baseless, calling the moves the start of a real war and linking them to Chancellor Friedrich Merz's military push; Merz rejected any cuts to Ukraine aid as naive.