Russia Orders Closure of Goethe-Institut Centres Amid Escalating Tensions With Germany

Police investigators work on the tarmac with a robot capable of defusing explosives, near a Ukrainian Antonov Airlines cargo plane, at Leipzig/Halle airport on August 5, 2026. Russia has announced it will shut down Germany’s Goethe-Institut cultural centres, according to Russian state media reports. The move follows Germany's decision to blame Moscow for a drone incident at the Leipzig/Halle airport last month and its subsequent announcement that it would close a Russian cultural centre in Berlin and a consulate in Bonn.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on Wednesday that Russia would shut down the centres located in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Yekaterinburg in retaliation. Lavrov told the state news agency TASS that Germany deliberately took a step that signifies the end of their cultural presence in Russia. He added that the Goethe-Institut cultural centres had previously remained open despite all Ukrainian complications in relations with the West.

The Kremlin stated on Thursday that Germany’s decision to shutter the Russian consulate in Bonn demonstrates an inconsistent and absurd position. The incident last month involved an explosive-laden drone, heightening fears regarding a sabotage campaign that the European Union and NATO describe as a Russian effort to destabilise Ukraine’s allies. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt accused Russia of orchestrating the hybrid attack, which involved a drone found near a Ukrainian cargo plane on the evening of August 4 and later defused. President Vladimir Putin accused Germany on Tuesday of planting evidence to frame Moscow for the incident.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas addressed the bloc's foreign ministers in Ireland, stating that the event bears all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism. Kallas noted that the EU summoned the Russian envoy and that member states were taking similar actions. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot stated that Paris would not let such a grave act go unpunished and called in Russia’s envoy. Kallas also announced that EU foreign ministers agreed to continue advancing a proposal to sanction 1,600 individuals and entities connected to Russia’s military industry.

The first Russian Goethe-Institut opened in Moscow in 1992 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Previously, Russia ordered the closure of the British Council in 2018 amid a diplomatic dispute with Britain. On Wednesday, Alexander Grushko, deputy to Lavrov, stated that Russia would retaliate very soon for the closure of the Bonn consulate.