Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday it had declared 40 German diplomatic members “persona non gratas” in retaliation after Berlin expelled the same number of Russian diplomats.
In a statement, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said it had taken the resolution after Germany said on April 4 that a “significant number” of those in the Russian embassy in Berlin were “undesirable. “
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the expelled Russians had never made international relations during their stay in Germany, but instead “systematically worked against our freedom and the team spirit of our society. “
The expelled German diplomats, on the other hand, had worked bilateral relations despite the difficult circumstances, he said in a statement, adding that the news was expected. “So Russia is hurting itself with today’s expulsions,” he said.
Germany was one of many European countries that expelled Russian diplomats after reports of the discovery of mass graves and the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian city of Bucha during the Russian occupation.
Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine on Feb. 24 in what is a “special operation” to degrade its military’s functions and eradicate what it calls harmful nationalists.
Ukrainian forces put up fierce resistance and the West imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia to force it to withdraw its forces.