ISTANBUL

Russia said on Thursday that it expelled an employee of the German embassy in Moscow in response to an earlier decision by Berlin to expel a Russian embassy staffer over espionage allegations.

The Foreign Ministry said it conveyed the decision as it summoned German Ambassador Alexander Lambsdorff, and also lodged a protest.

“It was emphasized that the unsubstantiated accusations of intelligence activity brought against him by Berlin officials are baseless and fabricated in the spirit of the ‘spy mania’ being promoted in Germany at the instigation of the German authorities,” a statement said.

Noting that the Russian side “categorically rejects” the claims, the statement said Moscow viewed the step as “a base provocation aimed at discrediting the Russian diplomatic mission in Germany.”

“The head of the German diplomatic mission was given a note declaring a diplomatic employee of the German Embassy in Moscow ‘persona non grata’ as a symmetrical response to the said decision of the German government, which bears full responsibility for the new escalation in bilateral relations,” the ministry added.

On Jan. 22, the German Federal Foreign Office said it expelled a Russian embassy staff member accused of espionage amid growing bilateral tensions.

​​"We have summoned the Russian Ambassador to the Foreign Ministry today and informed him that the individual who spied on behalf of Russia is to be expelled," the ministry said, without offering further details on the incident.

The expulsion follows an earlier arrest of a German-Ukrainian woman in Berlin, who prosecutors alleged had been gathering sensitive intelligence on arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Federal prosecutors said Ilona W. was suspected of acting on behalf of a foreign intelligence service, maintaining contact with an intelligence operative at the Russian Embassy in Berlin since at least November 2023.