Something Much Bigger is Happening Between Russia and Germany

It seems that the tit-for-tat actions between Russia and Germany keep increasing continuously. Recently, another round of tit-for-tat actions between Russia and Germany has been seen.

On Monday, the Kremlin announced that it is closing Germany's consulate in St. Petersburg and ordered that its operations be suspended until 18 September.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said, "It was the German authorities themselves who once again provoked a new round of tension in bilateral relations," and alleged that Berlin "bears complete responsibility" for its consequences.

This tit-for-tat action has also extended to the Russian and German cultural institutions working in Germany.

Russia has announced the closure of all branches of the Goethe-Institute present in its territory.

The Goethe-Institute is the main institution that promotes the German language and culture abroad.

This is a sign that the tension in Russia-Germany relations is no longer limited only to government and military matters, but normal social and cultural contacts between the two countries are also being affected.

This step is also considered a reply to Germany's previous action. Germany had closed the Russian consulate in Bonn and the Russian cultural centre in Berlin. In this way, a kind of "tit-for-tat" policy, meaning "you did it, so we will also do it," is being seen between the two countries.

But the most serious link in this whole dispute is the alleged drone incidents connected to Leipzig Airport.

According to reports from German authorities and media, at the beginning of August, a drone suspected of carrying explosives and a detonation system was found in the security area of Leipzig/Halle Airport near Ukrainian cargo planes.

Afterward, the operations of the airport were affected, and it had to be temporarily closed for security reasons.

After this, a report on a second incident also came out. According to German authorities, another drone may have collided with a nearby DHL plane.

Last week, German media reported that a third drone loaded with explosives was also recovered at the airport.

German federal prosecutors called this incident "a serious attack on Germany's transport and logistics infrastructure."

After the initial investigation, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul had said, "The means used — such as the configuration of the drone, components, explosives and detonation system — are well known to us from other hybrid operations carried out by Russia and from its methods of war against Ukraine."

The strongest words from Moscow's side came this weekend from Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

When the American delegation of Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff was present in Russia for a three-hour meeting with President Putin, Lavrov said that a "real war" is emerging between Russia and the West.

He firmly told a Russian state TV reporter: "In broad terms, this is the beginning of a real war. They expelled our consul general from Bonn.

They are closing the Russian House in Berlin. I remember that the same thing happened before the beginning of the Second World War… They want war again."

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In the middle of this whole dispute, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has announced the start of the 'City Dome' project, whose aim is to provide protection to Ukrainian cities from Russian missile and drone attacks and to strengthen that protection.

Pistorius said, "I am happy that the important 'City Dome' project is now being put into practice. As part of this project, Germany will cooperate in preparing a security shield to protect Ukrainian cities from drone and missile attacks."

The name of this project appears to be modelled on Israel's famous 'Iron Dome'. Its main aim is to protect Ukraine's major urban centres and civilian population from Russia's ballistic and cruise missiles and large-scale attacks by suicide drones like 'Shahed'.

This project focuses on building a multi-layered air defence network, linking short-, medium-, and long-range systems.

At present, Ukraine needs this City Dome project because Russia is continuously targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure, logistics hubs, and residential areas so that civilian morale can be broken before winter.

By creating a strong 'shield' over Ukrainian cities, the heavy damage being caused to civilian life and important infrastructure can be prevented.

Earlier, Boris Pistorius had said that Berlin would also transfer PAC-2 interceptor missiles for Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine from the stocks of the Bundeswehr (German army).

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I suspect that Lavrov's comments are only for the consumption of the domestic public, so that the support of local people and those hardcore communist/Russia supporters, who always like to feel like victims, can be gathered — "Oh, we poor Russians, Germany hates Russians, they are very racist, this means war!"

The Russian army, which has been stuck for years in the fields of Ukraine and has been suffering heavy losses, has neither the capability nor the resources to enter into a direct conventional war with NATO.

But even if Russia appears weak in conventional artillery and tank warfare, its mastery of propaganda, the creation of distrust in democratic institutions, cyberattacks, and secret sabotage of Western infrastructure is unmatched.

The explosive drones found at airports inside Europe and the bombs found near power grids are direct evidence of this same 'undeclared war'.

Russia's aim is not at all to win a war against Germany or to start a war with NATO. They want to weaken the European Union (EU), and Germany is its main contributor.

If they succeed in causing damage to German industry, then more Germans will vote for right-wing parties, most of which are Russian agents and supporters.

Germany is the economic engine and financial backbone of the European Union. As I have written above, Moscow knows very well that it cannot defeat the whole of NATO or Germany in a direct war through conventional military means.

Therefore, its primary aim is to divide and weaken the European Union from within through the policy of 'Divide and Conquer'.

Russia first creates an atmosphere of fear through war, sabotage, and the migrant crisis via Belarus.

After this, political forces sympathetic to Russia, like the AfD, present this solution to the public: if Germany accepts Russia's conditions and stops supporting Ukraine, then the crisis and the threat of war will go away.

This is a well-planned move to shift a country's foreign policy in its favour by exploiting its electoral process and public discontent, rather than invading from the outside.

The final conclusion is that Russia targeting Germany and giving threats of war is not the beginning of any imminent Third World War, but it is a hybrid attempt to break the unity of the European Union and to destabilise Germany's politics.

Moscow's aim is not to capture Berlin with cannons, but to scare the German economy and public opinion so much that Germany pulls back from aiding Ukraine and a crack is created within NATO.