BERLIN: Germany expelled an employee of Russia's embassy in Berlin in a tit-for-tat response to Moscow's expulsion last week of a German diplomat, the Berlin Foreign Office said on Monday.

"The Foreign Office today declared 'persona non grata' an employee of the Russian embassy in Berlin," the ministry said in a statement. "Russia expelled several EU diplomats, including one at the German embassy. This decision was not justified in any way."

Russia said the diplomats had participated in a demonstration in support of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, but Germany disputed this.

"The German diplomat was merely carrying out his task of reporting on developments on the spot in a legal fashion," the statement read.