Russia closes German consulate in St. Petersburg

abcnews.com

Russia announced the closure of the German consulate in St. Petersburg on Monday, a retaliatory move reflecting heightened tensions between the two countries. The consulate must cease operations and its staff must leave Russia by Sept. 18. The action responds to Germany's "unfriendly" decision to close the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural center in Berlin. Russia also reaffirmed the shutdown of German cultural centers, requiring their employees to depart by Sunday. Germany's move stemmed from an alleged Russian-linked drone attack near a Ukrainian plane at Leipzig/Halle Airport on Aug. 4, which Moscow denies. The airport serves as a key freight hub for Ukraine support.


With a significance score of 4.3, this news ranks in the top 4.1% of today's 32511 analyzed articles.

Get summaries of news with significance over 5.5 (usually ~10 stories per week). Read by 10,000+ subscribers: