Russia’s Cultural Network Keeps Shrinking as Germany Shuts Its Largest Overseas House

At least 13 Russian Houses have closed worldwide since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

This was reported by Ukraine's Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU) on its official website on September 8. The service framed the shuttered network—overseas branches of the state agency Rossotrudnichestvo—as “fronts for espionage and propaganda dressed up as culture.”

Roughly 15 such centers operated across the European Union before the full-scale war, according to the SZRU.

The rollback has unfolded across four years:

• In September 2026, Germany took significant action by ordering the closure of the Russian House, the largest Russian diplomatic mission abroad. This move resulted in an estimated annual cost of $10 million for Moscow. Additionally, Germany decided to close Russia’s consulate in Bonn. German media reported that this consulate may have served as a crucial intelligence hub, coordinating Russian operations across Western Europe. Between 15 and 20 diplomats at the post may have been active intelligence operatives who cooperated with Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the FSB, and the GRU.

• Azerbaijan, 2025: the Baku center closed after a crisis in relations tied to an Azerbaijan Airlines plane incident, prompting a rare Moscow apology rather than mirror-image expulsions.

• Moldova, 2025–2026: Chisinau terminated its cultural cooperation agreement in November 2025, and the local center ceased operations entirely on July 4, 2026; officials cited subversive activity against the country's sovereignty conducted under the guise of cultural activities.

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German Lawmakers Warn Berlin’s Russian House May Be an Intelligence Hub

Aug 12, 2026 13:53

• The Balkans, 2023: the agency's head, Yevgeny Primakov, acknowledged that centers in Slovakia, Croatia, North Macedonia, and Montenegro had ceased operations.

• Romania, February 2023: shuttered the Bucharest branch over what officials there described as the distortion of historical truth and subversive activity.

• Slovenia, April 2022: the first EU country to demand a closure, expelling the Ljubljana center.

• Poland, Denmark: activity collapsed amid mass expulsions of Russian diplomats and refusals to issue new visas.

Pressure on the Berlin center had been building for weeks before its closure. In mid-August, German lawmakers from three parties demanded that the Russian House be shut, describing it as a suspected hub for espionage and the recruitment of agents.

By then, Germany had expelled roughly 400 Russian citizens since 2022, more than 80 of them diplomats assessed to be intelligence officers working under diplomatic cover.

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