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Russian embassy sends note to Germany’s foreign ministry over discrimination of Russians

Sergey Nechayev said that Russian business people have so far not complained to the embassy

Russian Embassy in Berlin Mikhail Shcherbakov/TASS

Russian Embassy in Berlin

© Mikhail Shcherbakov/TASS

MOSCOW, March 5. /TASS/. The Russian embassy in Germany sent a note to the German Foreign Ministry over discrimination of Russians, Russian ambassador to Germany Sergey Nechayev said on Saturday.

"There’s a need for strong signals from the German government to local authorities - municipal, utilities, regional services - to put a stop to discrimination," he said on Rossiya-24. "We are following this closely and reaching out to government agencies. A note on this has been sent to the German Foreign Ministry."

Nechayev said the Russian embassy is registering hundreds of complaints from Russians over discrimination of Russian-speaking people. He said a hotline has been opened at the embassy for Russians to report cases of discrimination.

"It’s sad that they also affect children studying in German schools," he said. "They are, as a rule, bilingual children from mixed families who are afraid to go to school because they are exposed to <...> mobbing and various kinds of harassment."

He said that Russian business people have so far not complained to the embassy.

On February 24 Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aims to demilitarize and denazify the country. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. The West retaliated to Russia’s decision by imposing massive new sanctions on the country.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on March 3 described the Western actions as "sort of a tax on independence." He said "the hysteria will blow over" and a solution would be found for the situation around Ukraine.

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