INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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, Reuters reported.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.&According to Reuters the expelled German diplomats by contrast
had worked hard on bilateral relations despite difficult circumstances, she said in a statement, adding that the news had been
expected.&Russia is therefore harming itself with today&s expulsions& she said.Germany was one of several European countries to expel
Russian diplomats after reports of mass graves being found and of civilian killings in the Ukrainian town of Bucha during Russian
occupation, read the report.Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb
24 in what it called a &special operation& to degrade its military capabilities and root out what it calls dangerous nationalists.Ukrainian
forces have mounted stiff resistance and the West has imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an effort to force it to withdraw its forces,
Reuters reported.The post Russia expels 40 German diplomatic staff in tit-for-tat move first appeared on Ariana News.
