People were evacuated from their homes in Germany after a suspicious object 'deliberately placed' in a train station was discovered, police said. The object was discovered on the tracks of a station in the southern town of Treuchtlingen on Thursday morning. Specialised police units were called to the scene to inspect the item, the police authority for the region of Middle Franconia in Bavaria said in a post on X at around 11.00am local time.'Federal Police specialists are currently examining the object, which poses an explosive hazard,' police wrote. 'Please continue to avoid the area and give it a wide berth.'An explosives disposal robot was then deployed to inspect the object, as the train station remained closed.It has since emerged the object was found to not contain explosives, but police believe it was 'deliberately placed there to cause disruption'. Police said: 'The investigations have revealed that it is not an explosive. The criminal police are on site and are securing evidence. Rail traffic therefore remains suspended.' The item's discovery comes days after an explosive-laden drone, which is believed to be linked to Russia, was discovered at Leipzig Halle Airport last week. A suspicious object suspected to contain explosives was discovered at a train station in the southern town of Treuchtlingen on Thursday morning, which was closed as police investigated An anti-explosives robot was deployed to check the object on the train tracks Treuchtlingen is a town of around 13,000 residents located around 150km (95 miles) north of Munich. The train station plays a key role in regional train traffic and long-distance trains, with lines connecting to Munich, Nuremberg and other Bavarian cities. The discovery follows warnings by Germany's top security official that last week's incident signals a 'new quality of danger', intensifying concerns over potential new Russian hybrid tactics across Europe.American intelligence agencies have now assessed that Russian secret services were likely behind the attack, US media reported, although German authorities have yet to publicly name a culprit.Investigators have also reportedly found DNA on the drone matching a sample recovered after a suspected Russian sabotage attack at the same airport two years ago. In that incident, an incendiary device hidden in a DHL parcel caught fire at the Leipzig hub in August 2024.The package had been due to travel on a cargo plane but the flight was delayed, narrowly avoiding the possibility of the device igniting in mid-air.Five men accused over a wider series of incendiary parcel attacks are currently on trial in Lithuania, where prosecutors allege they were recruited by Russian intelligence. Police forensic technicians prepare to deploy an explosive-disposal robot near a Ukrainian aircraft at Leipzig-Halle Airport, Germany, August 5, 2026 A bomb disposal robot deployed by police at German airport Leipzig-Halle after a drone was found near a Ukrainian planeThe latest attack prompted German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt to cut short his holiday in Italy and travel to Leipzig, warning it represented a 'new quality of danger'.Mr Dobrindt described the incident as part of a 'professional hybrid threat scenario' involving a well-equipped foreign actor. Both the runways at the major freight hub were closed and several flights, including one passenger plane, were diverted to other airports after a flying object was sighted nearby shortly before midnight Tuesday, August 4.An anti-explosives robot was deployed after an airport employee discovered the drone near the south runway with an explosive device attached. Police examined the device and removed its detonator.'Drone sightings, drone threats including in a hybrid context, are something we know from the past,' Dobrindt said.'That a drone armed with explosives is at an airport is a new threat scenario.'German authorities have not publicly attributed the attack to Russia and their investigation remains ongoing.Russia has denied involvement, with its embassy in Berlin describing the incident as a 'fabricated provocation' and accusing critics of blaming Moscow without evidence.Germany and other European countries have repeatedly observed drones flying over sensitive sites such as airports, military bases and industrial plants.Authorities in Germany, one of Ukraine's biggest military supporters, have said they suspect Russia of orchestrating many of the incidents as part of a campaign of sabotage, espionage and disinformation.Ukraine's ambassador Oleksii Makeiev voiced suspicion that Moscow was behind the incident, telling Welt TV: 'Who else could it be but Russia?'The regional interior minister of Saxony state, Armin Schuster, said authorities were looking for parts of a possible second drone.Police and prosecutors said an apparent second flying object collided with a freight airplane after it aborted a landing at Leipzig Halle because the runway was closed. A forensic technician works alongside a bomb-disposal robot near a Ukrainian aircraft at Leipzig Halle Airport A Ukrainian Antonov cargo plane stands at Leipzig/-alle Airport on August 5, 2026The plane flew to another German airport, Hannover, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) to the north-west, where officials found slight damage.The north runway at Leipzig/Halle was reopened after about two hours.Authorities said there was no danger to passengers or airport employees.Video footage from a local news agency showed the bomb disposal robot near an Antonov plane painted with the Ukrainian colours yellow and blue and with the words 'Be Brave Like Kherson' written on the side, a reference to a Ukrainian region battered by Russian strikes.The airport in eastern Germany plays a key role in the transport of military goods, including by the German military and Nato allies, and also serves as a base for Ukraine's Antonov Airlines.Nato said it was aware of the incident but referred queries to German authorities.Mr Makeiev also pointed to the 2024 incident, saying: 'Indeed, Russia has long been waging this hybrid war.'