Russia has expelled a staff member of the German embassy in Moscow, describing the move as a “symmetrical response” to a comparable action taken by Germany.

In January, Germany declared a diplomatically accredited Russian diplomat stationed in Berlin persona non grata, citing evidence that he had carried out espionage activities on German soil.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs rejected the allegations, arguing that they have no factual basis and were invented amid what it calls a “spy hysteria” promoted by German authorities. It characterised the German decision as a “cheap provocation” intended to discredit Russia’s diplomatic mission in Germany.