Lavrov: Germany's Goethe-Institut in Russia to be closed

DPAUpdated Thu, September 3, 2026 at 3:48 AM UTC1 min readAdd Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.

The Russian government will close Goethe-Institut branches, Germany's international cultural institutes, across the country, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Thursday.

Lavrov said the move was in response to Germany's planned closure of the Russian House in Berlin, according to the Interfax news agency.

The German government announced the closure after an explosive-laden drone was found at Leipzig airport. Berlin has blamed Russia for the attempted attack.

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The Goethe-Institut has its main Russian branch in Moscow as well as cultural centres in St Petersburg and Novosibirsk.

"Of course they will be closed after our cultural centre was expelledfrom there [from Berlin]," Lavrov said, speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.