Russia shuts down Goethe-Institut; Bavaria investigates attack on defense firm site

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Germany's Goethe-Institut cultural centers would be closed in Russia.

"Of course they will be closed after our cultural center was expelled from there [from Berlin]," Lavrov said, speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

"They deliberately took this step — they could not have failed to understand — which means the end of their cultural presence in Russia," Lavrov said, according to state news agency TASS.

The comes after Germany blamed Russia for an attempted drone attack at the Leipzig/Halle Airport. Germany's response to that incident included closing the Russian House cultural center in Berlin and the Russian consulate in Bonn.

Goethe operates in around 100 countries worldwide, promoting the study of the German language and providing information about German culture and society.

Russia's first Goethe-Institut opened in Moscow in 1992, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Goethe-Institut is one of the last German institutions still operating in Russia.

Following an arson attack on a construction site in Munich, the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA) said Thursday it suspects the fire was an attempted attack on a company involved in the defense industry.

Investigators are looking into a possible political motive, an LKA spokesperson said. The spokesperson did not immediately identify the company involved.

However, the Bild tabloid reported that the fire was set at a construction site near the headquarters of Rohde & Schwarz, a technology company that produces communication systems for the Bundeswehr, among other things.

A spokesperson for the company confirmed the police and fire department response, emphasizing, however, "our company premises themselves are not affected," local public broadcaster BR reported.

Police said multiple incendiary devices were thrown from a vehicle at the construction site in Munich's Berg am Laim borough early Thursday morning around midnight.

At least one of the incendiary devices sparked a fire that police officers extinguished. Despite the fire, no major damage was caused, a Munich police spokesperson said. However, another incendiary device had to be defused by special forces.

Following a short manhunt, a 28-year-old woman and a 38-year-old man, both Bulgarian citizens, according to BR, were arrested at a nearby gas station, and were being questioned Thursday.