On September 13, Russia announced the expulsion of six British diplomats in Moscow, accusing them of engaging in espionage and sabotage activities. This move demonstrates the Kremlin’s anger towards the significant role the UK plays in supporting Ukraine. The UK responded by calling Russia’s accusations “baseless”.
The expulsion order by Russia came just hours before British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was set to meet with US President Joe Biden in Washington. The leaders of the UK and the US are expected to discuss the next steps in supporting Ukraine, particularly regarding the possibility of allowing Ukraine to use Western missiles to target Russian entities.
Russian President Putin stated on Thursday (September 12) that if the West permits Ukraine to attack Russian territory, it would be seen as direct confrontation between the West and Russia. This would change the nature and scope of the conflict.
While en route to the US, Starmer emphasized that the UK does not seek conflict with Russia, stating that Russia initiated the conflict by illegally invading Ukraine and could end it immediately. He emphasized Ukraine’s right to self-defense and reiterated the UK’s support for Ukraine without seeking conflict with Russia.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed to possess documents indicating that a department within the UK Foreign Ministry in London was coordinating a so-called “escalation of political and military situations”, tasked with ensuring strategic failures for Russia in the war with Ukraine.
According to a statement by the FSB, in response to unfriendly actions taken by London, Russia’s Foreign Ministry, in cooperation with relevant agencies, revoked the diplomatic accreditation of six members of the political department of the British Embassy in Moscow, citing signs of espionage and sabotage in their actions.
Russian state television broadcasted the names and photos of these six diplomats, along with surveillance footage showing a British diplomat meeting with others in secret. The report claimed that these diplomats had met with independent media and human rights organizations deemed as “foreign agents” by Russia, a term commonly used for those criticizing the Kremlin.
The FSB warned that if other British diplomats are found to be engaged in similar activities, Russia would request their early return to their home country.
The UK Foreign Ministry rejected Russia’s spy allegations against the diplomats as “completely unfounded”. A spokesperson stated that last month, Russia revoked the diplomatic accreditation of six British diplomats, following actions by the UK government against activities orchestrated by the Russian government in various European countries and the UK, stressing their commitment to defending national interests.
PA Media revealed that these six diplomats had left Russia weeks ago, and their positions had already been filled by replacements.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the trend of countries expelling diplomats has become increasingly common between Russia and Western nations.
According to RBC, a Russian news agency, from early 2022 to October 2023, Western countries and Japan collectively expelled 670 Russian diplomats, while Moscow expelled 346 diplomats from these countries. This number reportedly surpasses the total of expulsions in the past 20 years.
In May this year, the UK expelled a Russian military attache in London, accusing him of being an undeclared intelligence officer and shutting down several Russian diplomatic properties suspected of being used for espionage activities. In a tit-for-tat move, Russia expelled a British military attache about a week later.
(References from Reuters and AP)