A dispute between Germany and Russia over their cultural centres is drawing fresh attention to a network of Russian Houses that has faced years of accusations of propaganda and espionage, but continues to operate in several European countries.
Moscow said on Thursday it would close branches of Germany's Goethe Institute after Berlin moved to shut its Russian House, one of a string of centres that officially promote Russian culture and language and operate in dozens of countries. Meanwhile, a similar centre remains open in Paris despite EU sanctions against the Russian state agency that runs it. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian Houses have faced growing scrutiny over accusations that they promote Kremlin ideology and, in some cases, provide cover for intelligence activities. Germany announced on Tuesday that it would terminate the agreement governing the Russian House of Science and Culture in Berlin. The decision was part of retaliatory measures against Moscow after Germany held Russia responsible for what it called a “hybrid attack” involving an explosive drone at Leipzig airport on 4 August. Calls to close the Berlin centre have been made repeatedly over the past four years. Security concerns grew after Germany's digital ministry moved into a neighbouring building in late July, European news outlet Euractiv reported, with some sensitive services remaining in Bonn. EU summons Russian envoy, eyes sanctions after Germany drone 'attack' Espionage suspicions More misgivings emerged in early August, when German outlets WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on a French Interior Ministry document stating that the Berlin Russian House was “used as a cover by Russian intelligence services”. The claim appeared in an expulsion order against Xenia Fedorova, the former head of Russian state-funded broadcaster RT France, who was reported to have sought to head the Berlin centre. Around 100 people were based there and their exact roles were unknown, German MP Roderich Kiesewetter told Euractiv. He has previously described the centre as an extension of Russian President Vladimir Putin's power. “We also know that its energy consumption is significantly higher than what you would expect from a cultural institution,” said Kiesewetter, a member of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union who specialises in security and intelligence matters. Despite those suspicions, the centre continued operating, advertising children's classes and cultural events into October. Berlin is not alone. Rossotrudnichestvo, a Russian government agency under the authority of Russia's Foreign Ministry, runs the network of Russian Houses abroad. Its own map lists 15 in the European Union, including centres in Paris, Rome, Brussels and Budapest. Rossotrudnichestvo “explicitly supports the diplomatic orientations, geopolitical principles and values promoted by government bodies” in Moscow, Russia specialist Maxime Audinet wrote in a 2017 article in French geopolitics journal Hérodote. The EU sanctioned Rossotrudnichestvo and froze its assets in July 2022, describing it as “the main state agency projecting the Kremlin's soft power and hybrid influence”. The sanctions do not automatically force its offices to close, however, and several Russian Houses remain active four years later. A war on words: why Russian strikes are targeting Ukrainian publishers Quieter influence in Paris The Paris Russian House, in the city's 16th arrondissement, advertises paid Russian-language courses, children's activities, concerts and trips to Russia for 2026-2027. These include New Generation, a programme for young professionals organised and funded by Rossotrudnichestvo. In research into Russian cultural diplomacy between 2021 and 2024, Paris-Nanterre University master's graduate Marika Ruggiero described the Paris centre as an “agent of Russian propaganda” in France. “They are not trying to make all of France agree with Russia. They are instead trying to consolidate an audience that already had a certain attraction to Russia,” Ruggiero told RFI. Messaging was particularly direct at the start of the invasion. On 15 March 2022, the Paris centre published testimony from a woman from Donbas accusing Ukrainian soldiers of targeting schools and orphanages, before thanking Putin and Russia for intervening. By 26 March, after saying on Facebook that its “alternative messages” had found an audience in France despite an “avalanche of one-sided information”, the centre announced that it would focus mainly on cultural events.
