Don’t Travel To ‘Lawless’ Germany, Russia Tells Citizens

Russia has taken the very rare step of warning its citizens from traveling to leading EU member Germany, describing that Russians have increasingly been targeted for persecution and harassment based on ethno-nationalism. 

On Thursday Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova cited recent repeat instances of “unjustified harassment” by German state authorities, under the pretext of EU sanctions imposed related to the Ukraine war.

A once busy destination, the Kremlin is now telling all Russians to avoid traveling to Germany unless absolutely necessary, based especially on the policy of German customs officials going so far as to seize personal use items from Russian citizens as they leave the country.

Zakharova described that even purchases worth merely more than about €353 are affected. She said that people are being  “robbed in broad daylight,” by customs officials, and are often missing their fights due to harassment by officials at airports.

She mentioned examples of high profile individuals related to Russian soccer teams being harassed, and further described:

Germany has been “de facto transformed into a ‘lawless territory’ for people of a certain nationality – in this case, people from Russia… The German law enforcement officers have become punishers, pursuing Russians with maniacal persistence. They bully them and do not even hide this fact.”

She said that this is on the level of violation of rights…

“In the context of the escalating confrontation… we urge you to refrain from traveling to the United States and its allied states, including primarily Canada and European Union countries—specifically Germany—during these holidays,” Zakharova stated.

Germany has been a leading country transforming itself from dove to hawk in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, and its massive ramping up in defense spending reflects this.

#Zaharova: In Germany, unjustified persecution of Russian citizens and compatriots by government officials continues.

We strongly urge our citizens to refrain from traveling to Germany. pic.twitter.com/bEqZ6JLXDv

— MFA Russia (@mfa_russia) December 25, 2025

There’s even lately been talk of instituting a draft and greatly expanding troop numbers. All of this is happening as diplomacy takes a far backseat, but there have been recent signs Berlin is being forced to soften its approach.