Russia to close German Consulate General in St. Petersburg and branches of Goethe Institute

Russia is closing the German Consulate General in St. Petersburg and the Goethe Institute branch in the country. This is in response to Germany closing the Russian Consulate General in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin.

This was reported by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The consulate in St. Petersburg is to cease operations by September 18, and all employees must leave Russia by that date. The Goethe Cultural Centers and their employees have been given until September 13.

What preceded

On the night of August 4, a drone with explosives and a detonator was found near a Ukrainian An-124 Ruslan aircraft at Leipzig Airport. It later turned out that the drone had crashed into the aircraft but had not detonated — the explosives had fallen off on impact, and the drone was accidentally discovered only four hours later.

On September 1, Germany officially blamed Russia for the incident. As a result, Berlin will terminate its contract with the Russian House, tighten controls over Russians entering the country, and close the Russian Consulate General in Bonn.

Also in Germany, after the incident at Leipzig Airport, they plan to create a comprehensive system of protection against sabotage and hybrid attacks. The security plan, which is being developed by the Ministry of the Interior, consists of several areas.

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