Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
The Kremlin accusses the diplomat of actually being an intelligence agent, not a diplomat.
Tensions between London and Moscow have sharpened again after a fresh diplomatic dispute involving embassy staff.
Sky News and the BBC reports that Russia has instructed a British diplomat to leave the country, accusing him of operating as an intelligence officer under diplomatic cover.
According to a statement from Russia’s foreign ministry, the unnamed official has had his accreditation withdrawn.
The diplomat has been given two weeks to depart Russia. The ministry said the decision was final and linked directly to what it described as covert intelligence work carried out at the British embassy in Moscow.
Warnings from Moscow
In its statement, the foreign ministry said Russia would not accept the presence of “undeclared British intelligence officers” on its territory. It also warned that further steps could follow if the UK chose to escalate the situation.
The UK government has so far not commented publicly on the accusations.
No evidence was provided publicly by Moscow to support the claims, and the diplomat involved has not been named.
Strained relations
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the diplomatic relationship between Russia and the UK has been deteriorating.
Last year, Russia first expelled to British officials (spying allegations), to which the UK revoked accreditation for a Russian diplomat and a spouse as retalation.
But the downward spiral of the diplomatic relationship started before the Russian invasion.
Last year, an inquiry found that Russian leader Vladimir Putin was “morally responsible” for the death of a British woman in 2018, following an assassinaton attempt targeting a former Russian military officer and double agent for the British intelligence agencies, Sergei Skripal, in the city of Salisbury.
And in 2021, The European Court of Human Rights found that Russia was responsible for the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko, a defected officer of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), in 2006.
Sources: BBC, NPR, Euronews, SkyNews
