On November 26, 2024, Russia announced on Tuesday that they have expelled a British diplomat suspected of engaging in espionage activities. This move represents the latest blow to the already strained diplomatic relations between Russia and the UK.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) stated that the diplomat deliberately provided false information upon entry.
“At the same time, FSB found signs indicating that the aforementioned diplomat was involved in intelligence threats and subversive activities against the security of the Russian Federation,” the FSB stated in a release.
The British Foreign Office has not immediately commented on the matter.
According to TASS, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that the Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned the British Ambassador, a common practice to express strong protest by the host country’s government.
This is not the first time Russia has expelled British diplomats this year. In September, Russia expelled six British diplomats stationed in Moscow, accusing them of engaging in espionage and disruptive activities. The UK responded at that time, stating that Russia’s accusations were “baseless.”
As per the FSB, the recently expelled diplomat was one of the replacements for the six diplomats expelled in September.
Since the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, relations between the UK and Russia have deteriorated to post-Cold War lows. The UK has joined in the wave of consecutive sanctions against Russia and provided weapons to Ukraine. Russia has claimed that Ukraine launched British “Storm Shadow” cruise missiles into Russian territory last week.
Following the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the expulsion of diplomats between Russia and Western countries has become increasingly common. According to Russian news agency RBC’s statistics, from early 2022 to October 2023, Western countries and Japan collectively expelled 670 Russian diplomats, while Russia expelled 346 diplomats from these nations. The media outlet reported that this figure surpassed the total of the past 20 years.
(This article referenced reports from Reuters.)