Sergey Lavrov has turned a diplomatic confrontation with Germany into a test of how political language can blur the boundary between hybrid conflict and formal war. In an interview released on September 6, Russia’s foreign minister described Germany’s accusations and retaliatory measures as “the beginning of a real war.” He pointed to the closure of Russia’s consulate general in Bonn and Berlin’s action against the Russian House cultural centre, then invoked the closing of diplomatic missions before the Second World War and said Germans “want war again.”
The statement changes the tone, not the legal status. Russia has not declared war on Germany. The German government likewise says Germany is not at war. Berlin’s own terminology is “hybrid warfare”: sabotage, espionage, cyber operations, disinformation and other coercive activity designed to remain below the threshold of a conventional military attack. The distinction matters because hybrid pressure works precisely by creating strategic effects without triggering the political and military consequences associated with open warfare.
The latest dispute centres on Leipzig/Halle Airport. Germany says a drone carrying explosives was intended for use near a Ukrainian transport aircraft on August 4 and attributes the operation to Russia. Moscow denies responsibility. German authorities have not released the entire evidentiary file, saying that names, travel patterns, video and DNA traces remain protected as part of the investigation. That gap between public attribution and classified or protected evidence is common in intelligence-linked cases, but it also creates space for rival narratives.
Berlin has moved beyond rhetoric. The Russian consulate general in Bonn is scheduled to close on September 18, while the agreement underpinning the Russian House in Berlin has been terminated. Germany also plans tighter entry controls for Russian nationals, additional EU sanctions listings and more pressure on Russia’s shadow fleet. Officials describe the measures as proportionate and expressly designed to avoid uncontrolled escalation.
The strategic context is Ukraine. The alleged sabotage attempt involved a Ukrainian aircraft, and Germany says its support for Kyiv will continue. Berlin is coordinating its response with EU and NATO partners, effectively treating the case as part of a wider problem of protecting European infrastructure and logistics from covert disruption. For the alliance, the challenge is to deter such operations without automatically treating every suspected act of sabotage as an Article 5 armed attack.
Russia has answered by announcing the closure of Goethe-Institut branches in Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. Yet the Kremlin has also indicated that it wants diplomatic relations with Germany to continue. That combination reveals the current escalation ladder: cultural channels close, consular access narrows, sanctions grow and hostile rhetoric intensifies, while formal diplomatic relations remain in place. The next move will turn on the Leipzig investigation, European sanctions and whether Moscow chooses another reciprocal restriction or a more disruptive form of pressure.