After the attempted drone attack on Leipzig/Halle Airport, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said: “They will pay the price for this.” Now Berlin is footing the bill. Based on the preliminary investigation results, the federal government accuses Russia of trying to blow up a Ukrainian An-124 transport plane in the air using drones on August 4. The attempt failed. This is the first case in which an explosives-laden drone has been used against a critical infrastructure facility in Germany.
Among the countermeasures announced on Tuesday was the closure of the Russian Consulate General in Bonn. This consulate is considered the largest Russian representation of this type in the world. Its importance increased after Germany decided in May 2023 to close four of the five Russian consulates.
This was Berlin's response to Moscow's demand to reduce the number of German diplomats in Russia. Since then, both countries have been represented by one embassy and consulate each. Moscow is now likely to close the German consulate in St. Petersburg.
Implications for the Russians in Germany
The number of trips by German citizens to Russia has decreased significantly since the beginning of the war launched by Russia against Ukraine. As a result, the need for Russian visas for German citizens has also decreased. Therefore, it is Russian citizens who will be severely affected by the closure of the consulate.
The exact number of Russian passport holders in Germany is unknown. Estimates range from hundreds of thousands to several million. The closure of the representation will make it very difficult for many of them to obtain consular services. The Consulate in Bonn has already announced that “appointments for applicants in all consular affairs have been cancelled.”
Germany continues to pay for the building
The Consulate General in Bonn has special, even historical, importance for the Russian Federation. The building complex is located on a hill in the once prestigious neighborhood of Bad Godesberg on the southeastern edge of Bonn. When the city was the seat of the government of the Federal Republic of Germany, this area was known as the "Diplomats' Quarter."
The residence of the first federal president of the Federal Republic of Germany was previously located on the consulate grounds. In the early 1970s, ownership of the land was transferred to the Embassy of the Soviet Union. Construction of new buildings on the site was completed in the late 1980s. The Russian embassy remained there until the German federal government moved to Berlin in the late 1990s.
Now the diplomats will have to return from Bonn to Russia and the buildings will remain empty. But it will remain preserved, like the buildings of other Russian consulates that were closed at German taxpayers' expense. International law does not give states the right to use such buildings at their own discretion.
The consulate was involved in an espionage case
When Berlin previously closed other Russian consulates, it justified this, among other things, by its desire to complicate the work of Russian spies holding diplomatic passports. After the start of the comprehensive Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Consulate General in Bonn appeared in the case of former officer in the German armed forces, Thomas H. Who was convicted of spying for Russia. According to press reports, he himself had offered his services to the consulate. In 2025, he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
The city of Bonn has great strategic importance. Since it was the seat of government, the city includes the headquarters of the German Ministry of Defense. There are many military installations nearby, including NATO's command structure in neighboring Belgium and the Netherlands.
Closing before the Duma elections
It is true that this is not the first closure of a Russian consulate in Germany, but this time it was closed within an unusually short notice of less than three reasons. As for the previous time, the German authority was given a period of more than six months.
And one more thing: the Consulate General will be closed in the period leading up to the Duma elections in the Russian Federation. Election day in Bonn was scheduled for September 20. According to data from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, slightly more than 5,000 Russian citizens cast their votes in that consulate during the presidential elections that took place in the Russian Federation in 2024.
