Germany is closing Russia's Bonn consulate over the Leipzig drone attack. Will Moscow order a German consulate shut before Sept 8?

Moscow ordered the closure of Germany's last consulate general in Russia, in St. Petersburg, along with several Goethe-Institut cultural centers, before the Sept. 8 deadline. Russia's Foreign Ministry gave German diplomats and staff at the St. Petersburg consulate until Sept. 18 to leave the country, while staff at Goethe-Institut branches in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg were given until that Sunday. The move came directly in response to Germany's decision to close Russia's consulate general in Bonn and a Russian cultural center in Berlin, after Berlin formally blamed Russian state actors for an attempted drone attack involving explosives-laden devices at Leipzig/Halle Airport. Moscow has denied any involvement in the drone incident. The exchange marked a sharp escalation in Russian-German relations, adding to a string of tit-for-tat closures and expulsions between Moscow and European capitals over accusations of Russian sabotage and hybrid operations in Europe. The community correctly anticipated this outcome, with 74% expecting Moscow to retaliate, matching Russia's swift Sept. 7 order. The dispute left both countries with a sharply reduced diplomatic and cultural footprint in each other's territory heading into mid-September.