Germany’s St. Petersburg consulate closes amid escalating diplomatic retaliation between Berlin and Moscow

Source: Meduza

The German Consulate General in St. Petersburg has closed. On the afternoon of September 17, the German flag, national emblem, and other symbols were removed from the consulate building on Furshtatskaya Street.

Olga Maltseva / AFP / Scanpix / LETA

Grigory Dukor / RIA Novosti / Sputnik / Profimedia

The mission’s website says the German Embassy in Moscow will take over the consulate general’s responsibilities.

In early September, Russia’s Foreign Ministry withdrew permission for the German Consulate General in St. Petersburg to operate. The consulate was required to close by September 18, and all its employees were ordered to leave the country by that date.

Russia ordered the closure after Germany announced that it would close the Russian consulate in Bonn.

On September 1, German authorities imposed sanctions on Russia after discovering a drone carrying explosives at Leipzig Airport. The drone was found near a Ukrainian An-124 cargo plane carrying ammunition. German authorities formally accused Russia of attempting to sabotage the airport. Moscow denied the allegations.

Germany also announced that it would close the Russian House in Berlin. Russia, in turn, decided to close the Goethe-Institut, and it ceased operations by September 13.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you’re reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards. This translation process is the result of extensive testing and refinements to ensure our English-language coverage is timely and accurate. A Meduza editor reviews every draft before publication.

If you find any errors in this translation, please contact us at reports@meduza.io.

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Germany’s St. Petersburg consulate closes amid escalating diplomatic retaliation between Berlin and Moscow

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Germany’s St. Petersburg consulate closes amid escalating diplomatic retaliation between Berlin and Moscow

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