The German Foreign Ministry announced the return of employees of diplomatic missions from Russia to Berlin

Part of the employees of German diplomatic missions returned from Russia to Berlin, informed TASS with reference to the German Foreign Ministry.

The Foreign Ministry did not give the exact number of employees who left the country. As recalled in the department, in March a number of employees of Russian diplomatic missions left Germany, because their activities “did not correspond to the diplomatic status.”

“The Russian government, for its part, asked to leave the country a similar number of employees of the German missions. They left Russia today, May 1,” the German Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Germany and Russia mutually expel dozens of diplomats. Berlin was the initiator – according to the German television channel NTV, the German Foreign Ministry on April 21 decided to “reduce the presence of Russian special services” by expelling employees of the Russian embassy from the country. This information was confirmed by the German Foreign Office.

The exact number of diplomatic workers sent to Russia remains unknown, but the Russian Foreign Ministry described the expulsion as “massive.” According to RIA Novosti, more than 20 Russian diplomatic workers left Berlin for Russia on April 22. At the end of March, the Focus edition, citing German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock, reported that the German authorities planned to expel about 30 Russian diplomats.

In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of 34 out of 90 employees of the German mission in Moscow, writes the German publication Bild. According to the statement of the official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova, more than 20 German diplomatic workers will be expelled. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the decision of the German side to expel Russian diplomats another manifestation of hostility. “We strongly condemn these actions of Berlin, which continues to defiantly destroy the entire array of Russian-German relations, including their diplomatic dimension,” the Foreign Ministry said in a comment. In addition, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused the German side of publicizing this problem through the media through “controlled leaks” of information.