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Germany / 2025-09-25-de-1

airspace incident: Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein (TKMS shipyard, power plant, university hospital, Landeshaus, Kiel Canal) (2025-09-25)

/ date of the event

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What happened

On the night of 25 to 26 September 2025 the Schleswig-Holstein state police recorded drone flights over Kiel and in the districts of Dithmarschen and Rendsburg-Eckernförde, including over critical infrastructure and military sites. According to Der Spiegel, citing an internal government memo, two small drones crossed the TKMS shipyard grounds at about 9.15pm, a drone group with a larger mother drone then appeared over the university hospital, and after 10pm a similar formation flew over the gas power plant on the Kiel fjord and the Kiel Canal; the Landeshaus and reportedly the Heide refinery were also overflown. Interior minister Sabine Sütterlin-Waack confirmed to a Landtag committee on 1 October that the report matched what the police had told her ministry and that the state criminal police office was evaluating the case; she added that some sightings, including over military sites, had not yet been verified and that in many reports an illegal overflight was ruled out. Prosecutors opened proceedings against unknown persons. The number of drones, their operator and their origin remain unestablished.

Responsibility and limits of the evidence

not assessed

Nobody has yet assessed responsibility for this record. Not assessed is not the same as not established.

Impact

killed
not established
injured
not established
damage
not established

No casualties reported.

Sources

  1. Bericht von Innenministerin Sabine Sütterlin-Waack im Innen- und Rechtsausschuss des Landtags zu mutmaßlichen Drohnensichtungen über Schleswig-Holstein in der Nacht zum 26.09.2025

    Ministerium für Inneres, Kommunales, Wohnen und Sport Schleswig-Holstein / schleswig-holstein.de / 2025-10-01 / primary source

    supports: the record, that it happened, the date, the location

  2. Kiel: Verdächtige Drohnen spähten offenbar kritische Infrastruktur aus

    Der Spiegel / secondary source

    supports: the record, the location

  3. Schleswig-Holstein: Drohnen sollen Infrastruktur ausgespäht haben

    ZDFheute / 2025-10-01 / secondary source

    supports: the record, the location, the date

  4. Drohnen über Schleswig-Holstein: Viel los am Himmel über Kiel

    taz.de / 2025-10-02 / secondary source

    supports: the record, that it happened