Russia denounces German espionage allegations as “foolish provocation”

The Russian Embassy in Berlin has strongly rejected Germany’s espionage allegations against one of its diplomatic staff, describing the claims as a “foolish and hastily concocted provocation” intended to undermine the Russian diplomatic mission, ntv reports.

The embassy’s statement said: “It is a foolish, hastily concocted provocation intended to discredit the Russian diplomatic mission amid the actively stoked panic over spies.”

The remarks come after Germany’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Russian ambassador in Berlin and declared one of the embassy’s employees persona non grata. Russia has denied all accusations.

Earlier reports indicated that Andrey Mayorov, the deputy Russian military attaché who was expelled from Germany, allegedly oversaw a spy network linked to Russia’s military intelligence service.

In a statement posted on Telegram, the Russian embassy said an official protest was lodged with the Russian diplomat regarding the arrest of a German-Ukrainian resident by German law enforcement agencies. The embassy added that one of its staff members was declared persona non grata for allegedly acting as the woman’s curator, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

“We rejected those accusations as an absurd and hastily concocted provocation designed to discredit the Russian diplomatic mission in the context of an escalated ‘spy frenzy’ in Germany and pointed to the absurdity of the claims,” the statement read. “We expressed our regret that Germany has chosen to further escalate tensions in Russian-German relations, using fanciful pretexts for that. We made it clear that Berlin’s hostile actions will not go unanswered,” the embassy emphasized.

The move follows Germany’s decision to expel Russia’s deputy military attaché over alleged espionage activity. The expelled embassy employee is required to leave Germany within 72 hours.

On January 21, the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany detained the woman with dual German-Ukrainian citizenship on suspicion of spying for Russia. The German Prosecutor General’s Office subsequently authorized her arrest. Investigators allege that the woman maintained contact with Russian intelligence services and transmitted information regarding the Ukraine conflict, including details of political meetings in Germany.

By Vafa Guliyeva