Berlin closes its Russian House after 40 years, citing drone sabotage accusation

Germany's Foreign Ministry announced in early September that it would close the Russian House in Berlin, Russia's largest cultural center abroad, which had operated in the German capital for more than 40 years. The center remained open even after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, while similar institutions elsewhere in Europe shut down.

The decision followed an incident at Leipzig Airport in early August, when a DHL cargo plane had to climb sharply after the airport unexpectedly closed. After landing in Hanover, inspectors found damage from a collision with an unidentified object. At Leipzig, bomb disposal teams found and defused a drone fitted with explosives and a detonator near a Ukrainian An-124 cargo plane, and ten days later found a second drone bearing traces of explosives. After nearly a month of investigation, German authorities blamed Russia for the attempted sabotage. Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul announced the response: closing Russia's consulate in Bonn and the Russian House in Berlin.

The worldwide network of more than 70 Russian Houses, overseen by the agency Rossotrudnichestvo, operated in at least 77 countries before the war. After the EU sanctioned the agency in 2022 over accusations of promoting "Russian World" ideology and funding propaganda, Russian Houses suspended operations in six European countries as well as in Baku and Chișinău. Berlin's center kept operating, protected by agreements signed in 2011 and 2013 under which Germany paid property tax on the land while receiving reciprocal rights to lease the Goethe-Institut building in Moscow.

German authorities had long suspected the building could be used for espionage and sanctions evasion. In summer 2026, German media reported on a French Interior Ministry document alleging Russian intelligence services use the Russian House as a front to influence the diaspora. Bundestag lawmakers pointed to unusual signal activity and disproportionate electricity use at the site.

The closure will cost dozens of employees and tenants their jobs, including a restaurant and a Russian-language bookstore in the building, whose owners say people of many nationalities will lose access to services. The closure came just before Berlin's state parliament election on September 20, making it a campaign issue.