Russia’s Federal Security Service has claimed that “signs of intelligence subversion” were found in the activities of six British embassy staff who were in Russia on behalf of the British foreign ministry’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia directorate. On this basis, the FSS said in a statement, they were stripped of their accreditation and expelled from the country.
When exactly this happened is not reported. Official London and the British embassy in Moscow have not yet commented on the FSB statement, which also says that the Russian security service allegedly received documentary materials that confirm the UK’s coordination of the “escalation of the international military and political situation.”
An FSS official on the Russia-24 channel said, in particular, that the expelled British diplomats had met with representatives of Russian civil society. Meetings with journalists from Novaya Gazeta, as well as human rights activists from Civic Assistance and the international Memorial were named. According to a spokesman for the intelligence service who was not named, these meetings manifested “classic British espionage,” and now the Russian authorities are “tired of putting up with this circus.” As an example of “subversive activity”, the diplomats were cited as attending “some gathering of NGOs and foreign agents engaged in lobbying for migrants’ interests”. “Russia-24” also named the expelled diplomats: Jessica Davenport, Grace Alvin, Andrew Daft Callum, Kathryn McDonnall, Thomas John Hickson and Blake Pattel. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also accused the British embassy in Moscow that the actions of its staff were harming the Russian people.
The announcement of the expulsion of the diplomats comes amid discussions by the US, Britain and their allies about the possibility of allowing Ukraine to use Western weapons to strike targets deep inside Russian territory. The topic will be discussed at today’s meeting in Washington between US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Vladimir Putin said the previous day that allowing Kiev to strike Russian territory with long-range weapons would mean direct participation of NATO and European countries in the war.
Moscow has repeatedly accused London of seeking to inflict a “strategic defeat” on Russia in Ukraine and, in particular, said that it was Britain that thwarted the signing of the truce agreement in Istanbul in 2022. British authorities say they are helping Ukraine to repel Russian aggression but are not seeking a direct confrontation with Russia.
The Directorate for Eastern Europe and Central Asia itself was allegedly transformed after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine into a special service whose main task is to strategically defeat Russia, according to the FSS.
