Several hundred German civil servants who work in sectors such as education or culture must leave Russia in the coming days at the request of Moscow, within the framework of the sanctions and counter-sanctions linked to the war in Ukraine, local media indicated today and confirmed the government of Germany.
The Russian authorities urged the largest economy in Europe to reduce its diplomatic staff before June, but the affected officials also include workers from public institutions such as the Goethe Institut cultural center or the German school in Moscow, a government source told the agency. from AFP news.
The German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, which revealed the information, assured that the measure will affect several hundred people and represents a “diplomatic declaration of war” against Berlin.
The German Foreign Ministry confirmed that the newspaper’s figure was “correct”, although it did not specify the exact number of people affected.
The Russian Foreign Ministry set the month of April as the “maximum limit for the number of German diplomatic personnel and public organizations” authorized to stay in Russia, the German government said.
“This limit set by Russia since the beginning of June implies major cuts in all areas of the (German) presence in Russia,” the German government source added.
Moscow had already announced the expulsion of some 20 German diplomats in retaliation, according to Russian authorities. Berlin had also taken a similar step.
Germany is kyiv’s ally in the war and today, the Ukrainian authorities asked Berlin to provide them with Taurus cruise missiles to defend against the Russian invasion launched in February last year.
A spokeswoman for the German Defense Ministry said in recent hours that it received that request, which comes after Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski declared that he was still seeking the support of his Western partners.
According to data from the German Army, the Taurus is one of the most modern missiles in the air forces.
Fighter pilots do not have to enter enemy airspace to fire it: the weapons find their target even from great heights and distances.
Ukraine already uses the 550-kilometer-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles supplied by the United Kingdom in its war against Russia, which is criticized by Moscow, since they can also be used to attack targets in Russia itself.
Source: Ambito
