Russia announced it will close all three Goethe-Institut cultural centres on its territory, located in Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. The decision is in retaliation after Germany blamed Moscow for an attempted drone attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport and responded by shutting the Russian Consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural centre in Berlin.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed the retaliatory closures, stating that a lesser response would have shown a lack of self-respect. The Goethe-Institut has operated cultural and language programs in Russia for decades, and its closure will end one of the last remaining channels of official cultural exchange between the two countries.