Overview

• The Berlin immigration authority refused to extend the residence permit of a Kremlin-linked correspondent whose media holding was sanctioned by the EU in February 2023 and temporarily seized the passports of his wife and daughter.
• Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Ambassador Alexander Graf Lambsdorff on June 27 to announce planned “reciprocal measures” and demanded he return a second time after an interpreter mix-up highlighted diplomatic miscommunication.
• Spokesperson Maria Zakharova accused Germany of using legal sanctions to suppress Russian state media under the guise of press freedom and warned of expulsions targeting German reporters in Moscow.
• Berlin rejects accusations of press freedom violations, stressing its actions were legally mandated by EU sanctions and reflect adherence to rule-of-law principles in treating sanctioned individuals.
• The dispute continues a cycle of tit-for-tat media restrictions since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, following Moscow’s expulsion of two ARD journalists in November 2024 and broader mutual reporting bans.