A journalist for Germany’s BILD tabloid was denied entry to Russia on Monday after being told by border officers he is a “danger” to the Russian state. 

Reporter Peter Tiede was deemed a “danger to Russia’s ability to defend itself” upon arriving at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport from Berlin via Istanbul.  

Tiede, who had left Russia in the wake of Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, was then handed a 900-day ban from entering Russia and made to wait 13 hours for a return flight back to Berlin.

“I almost broke down from stunned laughter,” the journalist recounted to BILD of his reaction to being told he was a threat to Russian security. 

Tiede’s turning away comes at a time when Russian and German relations are souring over Moscow’s war in Ukraine and the EU powerhouse’s efforts to end its reliance on Russian energy.

The denial of entry to a foreign journalist follows a wave of more stringent measures on reporters from what Russia classifies as “unfriendly countries” since the start of the war in Ukraine.

But Tiede is the first known case since Feb. 24 of a foreign journalist being denied entry despite having the proper documents. 

“As of yesterday, [going back to Russia is] 900 days away for me,” Tiede wrote Tuesday. 

“Only then can I go back in — unless Ukraine wins the war against Russia and Putin. And something changes again.”