Russia Orders German St. Petersburg Consulate Shut — SkimNews
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- Russia's Foreign Ministry ordered Germany's Consulate-General in St. Petersburg to cease operations by September 18, 2026, with all staff required to leave by that date, calling it retaliation for Berlin's prior actions.
- Germany had previously shut Russia's consulate general in Bonn and the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin, which Moscow cited as the trigger for the latest escalation.
- Russia also reaffirmed its decision to close Germany's Goethe-Institut cultural centres in Russia, giving their employees until September 13 to leave the country.
- Moscow blamed Berlin for the deterioration, with the Foreign Ministry stating Germany 'bears full and complete responsibility for the consequences' of the 'unfriendly' moves.
- Russia has rejected accusations it was behind an August 4 attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport — an explosives-laden drone found near a Ukrainian aircraft and later defused — with President Vladimir Putin accusing Germany of planting evidence.
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would 'not budge a single millimetre' from his conviction that Germany must defend its freedom against Russia, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Berlin of 'essentially moving to declare war on us.'
- Finland on the same day unveiled a 200-kilometre fence along its border with Russia to counter potential hybrid threats, with Interior Minister Mari Rantanen warning 'it can change really rapidly.'
Why it matters: The closure strips Germany of its last major diplomatic and cultural footprint inside Russia, with Goethe-Institut employees also expelled by September 13, cutting bilateral channels at a moment when Chancellor Merz is publicly reaffirming Germany's anti-Russia posture. The timing — coinciding with Finland's 200km border fence — underlines that European capitals are simultaneously hardening physical and diplomatic defenses against what they describe as Russian hybrid activity.
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