Moscow to close Goethe-Institut centres after Germany broadcasts the closure of two Russian establishments.
Revealed On 3 Sep 2026
Russia says it should shut Germany’s Goethe-Institut cultural centres, Russian state media has reported, after Germany blamed Moscow for a drone incident on the Leipzig/Halle airport final month and mentioned it will shutter a Russian cultural centre in Berlin and a consulate in Bonn.
International Minister Sergey Lavrov mentioned on Wednesday that Russia would shut the centres within the cities of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, following Germany’s choice to halt the operation of a Russian cultural centre in Berlin.
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“They [Germany] intentionally took this step – they may not have failed to know – which suggests the tip of their cultural presence in Russia,” Lavrov mentioned, in line with state information company TASS.
The Goethe-Institut cultural centres had stayed open “regardless of all of the Ukrainian issues in our relationships with the West,” he added.
The Kremlin mentioned on Thursday that Germany was displaying an inconsistent and absurd place by selecting to shutter the Russian consulate in Bonn.
Final month’s incident involving an explosive-laden drone that began the chain of occasions has heightened fears over a sabotage marketing campaign that the European Union and NATO say is a Russian try to destabilise Ukraine’s allies.
German Inside Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Tuesday accused Russia of being behind the “hybrid assault”. The drone at Leipzig-Halle airport was discovered close to a Ukrainian cargo aircraft on the night of August 4 and defused.
On Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin accused Germany of planting proof to be able to blame Moscow for the drone incident.
EU response
“It’s clear that it has all of the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism,” EU international coverage chief Kaja Kallas mentioned at a gathering of the bloc’s international ministers in Eire.
“The query is, what will we do about this?”
Kallas mentioned the EU had summoned the Russian envoy, and member states had been doing the identical.
“We won’t let an act of such gravity go unpunished,” French International Minister Jean-Noel Barrot mentioned, including he had referred to as in Russia’s envoy in Paris.
Kallas mentioned that EU international ministers agreed to maintain engaged on a proposal to impose sanctions on 1,600 people and entities linked to Russia’s navy business within the hope of adopting them subsequent month.
“Seeing these hybrid assaults throughout Europe, I believe these are additionally wake-up requires the nations who haven’t been so robust … on this,” she mentioned.
“If we wish to finish this warfare, all of us need to focus our efforts. Take it to a brand new degree.”
Russia’s first Goethe-Institut opened in Moscow in 1992, quickly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Following a diplomatic spat with Britain, Russia ordered the closure of its British Council in 2018.
On Wednesday, Lavrov’s deputy, Alexander Grushko, mentioned Russia would retaliate “very quickly” for the closure of the Bonn consulate.
