Germany announced on 1 September 2026 the imminent closure of the Russisches Haus (Russian House of Science and Culture) in Berlin, citing Russian responsibility for a "hybrid attack" on Leipzig airport on 4 August, bringing to a head years of espionage suspicions around the 30,000-square-metre centre located steps from the Russian embassy. French interior ministry documents, cited by German outlets WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung, described the Berlin venue as a cover for Russian intelligence services, while a German security expert noted its energy consumption was far higher than expected for a cultural institution. The closure highlights a broader European dilemma: fifteen Russian Houses remain active across the EU — including in Paris, Rome, Brussels, and Budapest — all run by Rossotrudnichestvo (the Russian state agency for cultural diplomacy), which has been under EU sanctions since July 2022 on grounds that it acts as the Kremlin's primary soft-power and hybrid-influence tool, yet those sanctions do not automatically force the centres to shut.