MOSCOW: The Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman on Saturday announced the expulsion of “more than 20” German diplomats as a retaliatory measure for “mass expulsion” of Russian embassy staff from Berlin.
Maria Zakharova told state-run television Zvezda that Moscow had decided to expel “more than 20” diplomats.
Her statement came shortly after her ministry denounced “another mass expulsion of employees of Russian diplomatic missions in Germany.”
The German foreign ministry said it took note of the Russian statements.
It told AFP that “the Federal government and the Russian side have been contact in recent weeks on personnel matters in their respective representations abroad.”
“Today’s flight is part of that process,” it said, though without specifically talking about any expulsion.
Moscow accused Berlin of “continuing to demonstratively destroy the entire range of Russia-Germany relations.”
“As a response to Berlin’s hostile actions, the Russian side has decided to mirror the decision and expel German diplomats from Russia,” the foreign ministry said.
Moscow will also limit the maximum number of employees in German diplomatic missions in the country, and said Germany’s ambassador Geza Andreas von Geyr was notified of the measures on April 5.
Meanwhile, more than 3,000 people in the Russian city of Belgorod were returning to their homes on Saturday after being evacuated while an explosive was disposed of, the local governor said.
Two days earlier a Russian warplane accidentally dropped a bomb on the city, damaging local houses, authorities said.
Those evacuated lived in the same area.
Military explosive experts decided to “neutralise” the explosive at a training ground, Belgorod region governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.
“The operational headquarters decided to evacuate 17 apartment buildings within a radius of 200 metres. According to preliminary data, it is more than 3,000 people. Anyone who needs help with temporary accommodation, it will be provided,” he said on Saturday.
He said later that people had started to return to their homes after a “shell” was removed from the area.
On Thursday, a Russian Sukhoi-34 supersonic warplane accidentally fired a weapon into Belgorod, causing an explosion and injuring three people, Russian officials said.
