Germany expels Russian diplomats en masse, Russian Foreign Ministry announces "mirror" expulsion in response
German security authorities believe that about 160 Russian intelligence officers are currently in the country
More than 20 German diplomats are being expelled from Russia, Russian state media report, citing Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
As it has become known, more than 20 Russian diplomats have already been expelled from Berlin.
Earlier, the German edition of Focus, citing sources, wrote that German Foreign Minister Annalena Burbock is going to send more than 30 Russian diplomats who are suspected of using their status to obtain political, economic, military and scientific information for sabotage and disinformation operations.
As the newspaper wrote, German security agencies believe that there are currently about 160 Russian intelligence officers in the country. This is more than during the Cold War.
Russian diplomats began to be expelled on suspicion of espionage in early 2022. At the end of January, Germany declared a Russian diplomat persona non grata over suspicions of espionage.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, and Luxembourg announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats, and 480 Russian citizens from various missions were declared persona non grata.
In March, the Netherlands expelled 17 Russian diplomats, and Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said that the country was expelling "intelligence officers sent to Russian missions in the Netherlands under diplomatic cover" who pose a security threat.
Background. In January, Latvia joined Estonia in a diplomatic scandal with a demand that the Russian ambassador leave the country.
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