Russia expels six British diplomats for alleged espionage. This was initially announced by the Russian domestic intelligence service FSB, which is unusual. The Russian Foreign Ministry – the diplomats’ actual contact – only commented afterwards and supported the decision.
The FSB wrote that the Eastern Europe Directorate in the British Foreign Office had turned into an intelligence service that wanted to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia in the war against Ukraine. There were signs of espionage and “subversive activities” among six diplomats in the political department of the British embassy. Details were not given.
The British Foreign Office dismissed the allegations as “completely baseless.” The Russian action was a response to British measures – which in turn followed Russian state “activities in Europe and the United Kingdom,” the BBC quoted from the statement. “We make no compromises in protecting our national interests,” the Foreign Office said.
The reason for the expulsion is probably the discussion about whether Great Britain and the USA should allow Ukraine to use long-range weapons against Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin said this would be a direct involvement of NATO in the war. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded that Russia had invaded Ukraine illegally and that Russia could end the war immediately by withdrawing.
Even public tasks can be interpreted as “espionage”
Secret service employees are also usually employed in embassies – sometimes openly as contact persons for the host country’s services, sometimes in disguise. The claim that the Eastern Europe department in the Foreign Office in London is a secret service can also be interpreted as espionage in the usual public duties of Western diplomats in Moscow.
The newspaper Iswestia As an example of such tasks, he cited that a British representative had attended court cases and maintained contact with government critics; 80 representatives of Russian non-governmental organizations had come to the British Embassy in Moscow for a reception to mark the birthday of King Charles III.
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