Russia's foreign ministry said on Monday that it had declared 40 German diplomatic staff "personae non gratae" in a retaliatory move after Berlin expelled the same number of Russian diplomats.
In a statement, Russia's foreign ministry said it had taken the decision after Germany on April 4 declared a "significant number" of officials at the Russian embassy in Berlin "undesirable".
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the expelled Russians had never actually done any diplomacy during their time in Germany, but rather "systematically worked against our freedom and the cohesion of our society."