Russia expels two British diplomats over alleged espionage

MOSCOW — Russia announced on Monday that it is expelling two British diplomats stationed at the embassy in Moscow, accusing them of espionage.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) claimed in a statement that the diplomats had submitted false personal details when applying for entry into Russia and were involved in alleged "intelligence and subversive activities" that posed a threat to national security.

However, no evidence was provided to support these claims.

The diplomats' accreditations have been revoked, and they have been instructed to leave Russia within two weeks, according to state-run outlet RIA Novosti.

“Moscow will not tolerate the activities of undeclared British intelligence officers on Russian territory," the Russian Foreign Ministry added in a statement.

The British Foreign Office rejected the allegations and responded by saying that “this is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff.”

The FSB previously accused seven British diplomats of espionage, with six expulsions announced in September and another in November of last year. At the time, the UK dismissed the accusations as “baseless”.

Last month, London expelled a Russian diplomat in retaliation to the November expulsion.

These actions occurred amid continued high tensions over Moscow's war in Ukraine and Britain’s decision to revoke the credentials of a Russian attaché and restrict Moscow’s diplomatic operations in the UK.

In May 2024, the UK expelled Russia’s defence attaché in London, claiming he was an undeclared intelligence officer, and shut down several Russian diplomatic premises, alleging they were being used for espionage. Russia quickly retaliated by expelling the UK’s defence attaché.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, diplomatic expulsions between Moscow and Western nations have become increasingly frequent.

According to the Russian news outlet RBC, between early 2022 and October 2023, Western countries and Japan expelled 670 Russian diplomats, while Moscow responded by expelling 346 foreign envoys — figures that exceeded the total number of diplomatic expulsions over the previous two decades combined. — Euronews