Diplomatic tensions are still growing between Moscow and Berlin. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova announced in an interview with Defense Ministry Zvezda TV the expulsion of more than 20 German diplomats. Retaliation, he said, against Germany's earlier decision to expel Russian diplomats. About a month ago, according to Moscow, Berlin decided to expel dozens of Russian diplomats for reasons that have not been disclosed - after the 40 who had already suffered the same fate a year ago. According to Bild, 34 Russian diplomats have been expelled out of a total staff of 90.

Zakharova called the German move a further step towards the destruction of bilateral relations "even in their diplomatic dimension" and in addition to responding with the expulsion of German diplomats, the Foreign Ministry in Moscow decided "to significantly limit the maximum number of employees of German diplomatic missions in our country". as reported by the Tass agency.

The news came after the considerable controversy between Zakharova and German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, with the former accusing the latter of calling the attacks on Russia "acceptable": "Do you remember everything you said?" she said, "don't forget your words."

TASS / IPA

Maria Zakharova at the United Nations General Assembly, 24 September 2022

According to Zakharova, moreover, the German authorities were ambiguous and communicated to the Russian Federation the expulsion of Russian diplomats, "but asked not to tell anyone." Then, he continued, rumors appeared in the German media, which the Berlin government publicly denied but which, according to Moscow, were leaked by the German authorities.

The German Foreign Ministry confirmed that in recent weeks there have been talks with Russia among the staff of each other's diplomatic missions "with the aim of reducing the presence of Russian intelligence in Germany. The departure of Russian embassy personnel today is related to this."

A close economic partner of Russia and the first foreign buyer of its gas and oil before the military offensive in Ukraine, Germany has since distanced itself from Moscow, supporting Kiev in the conflict, albeit amid some hesitation, both financially and militarily.

The escalation of Russian espionage activities in Germany

In the spring of 2022, Germany expelled about 40 Russian diplomats who it said posed a threat to its security. Since the beginning of the offensive in Ukraine, Russian espionage activities in Germany have assumed dimensions rarely matched in recent years, German security services have pointed out, which have regularly warned against this threat.

The German secret services have further raised the alert level on these issues. On October 18, the head of the German cybersecurity agency, Arne Schönbohm, was fired, after press reports about his proximity to a cybersecurity consulting firm, itself suspected of being in contact with Russian intelligence services. A month later, a German reserve officer was sentenced to one year and nine months' suspended prison sentence for spying for Russia.