Russia said it was expelling a German diplomat after Berlin last month threw out a Russian official it accused of being a spy handler.
The foreign ministry said on Thursday that it had issued a "note declaring a diplomatic employee of the German Embassy in Moscow persona non grata" in what was a "symmetrical response".
Moscow also rejected Germany's accusations of espionage as "baseless" and accused Berlin of whipping up "a spirit of spy mania".
The expelled German diplomat is part of the military attache staff of the German Embassy in Moscow.
The foreign ministry also said it conveyed the decision as it summoned German Ambassador Alexander Lambsdorff.
“The head of the German diplomatic mission was given a note declaring a diplomatic employee of the German Embassy in Moscow ‘persona non grata’ as a symmetrical response to the said decision of the German government, which bears full responsibility for the new escalation in bilateral relations,” the ministry added.
On January 22, the German Federal Foreign Office said it expelled a Russian embassy staff member accused of espionage amid growing bilateral tensions.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called the expulsion "completely unacceptable".
Western states have ejected dozens of alleged Russian spies over the last decade as relations soured even before the war in Ukraine.
The expulsions have typically triggered a tit-for-tat response from Moscow amid the Ukraine war.
The allegations and counter-allegations have also remained shady during the Ukraine war with respect to espionage as well as sabotage.
Widely labelled by Moscow and Western governments as sabotage, the September 2022 Nord Stream explosions crippled the pipelines, cutting off most Russian gas flows to Europe.
Initially, the blame was placed on Moscow, but a probe by European investigators revealed a Ukrainian hand in it.
