On Thursday, February 5, Russia announced it was expelling a German diplomat, following Berlin’s expulsion last month of a Russian official accused of working for Russian intelligence.

Axar.az informs, citing Russian media, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had declared a staff member of the German Embassy in Moscow persona non grata, calling the move a “reciprocal response.”

Moscow dismissed Germany’s espionage accusations as “baseless” and accused Berlin of “stoking spy hysteria.”

In January, Germany expelled a Russian embassy employee after the arrest in Berlin of a woman suspected of spying for Moscow.