Germany blames Russia for drone incursion, announces retaliatory measures

BERLIN — Berlin squarely placed the blame for an incursion of explosive-laden drones last month on the Kremlin and announced a raft of retaliatory diplomatic measures. As part of the counter measures, Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul announced that the Russian consulate in Bonn would be closed. Berlin’s response marks a shift in the German government’s approach to Russia under Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Merz has long maintained that Germany is neither at war nor at peace, but this is the first time Berlin has so definitevely attributed a hybrid attack to Russia and announced countermeasures.