Russia expels six British diplomats as East-West tensions rise over
Ukraine missiles
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[September 13, 2024]
By Andrew Osborn
(Reuters) -Russia's FSB security service said on Friday it had revoked
the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow after accusing them
of spying and sabotage work, signaling the Kremlin's anger at what it
sees as London's vital role in helping Ukraine.
Britain's embassy in Moscow and the UK government did not immediately
respond to Reuters requests for comment.
Russia announced the expulsions hours ahead of planned talks in
Washington between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.S.
President Joe Biden on the next steps in supporting Ukraine, centering
on whether to allow Western missiles to be used to hit targets in
Russia.
President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the West would be
directly fighting with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian
territory with Western-made long-range missiles, a move he said would
alter the nature and scope of the conflict.
The FSB, the main successor agency to the Soviet KGB, said it had
documents showing that a British foreign office department in London
responsible for Eastern Europe and Central Asia was coordinating what it
called "the escalation of the political and military situation" and was
tasked with ensuring Russia's strategic defeat in its war against
Ukraine.
"The facts revealed give grounds to consider the activities of British
diplomats sent to Moscow by the directorate as threatening the security
of the Russian Federation," the FSB said in a statement.
"On the basis of documents provided by the Federal Security Service of
Russia and as a response to the numerous unfriendly steps taken by
London, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, in co-operation with
the agencies concerned, has terminated the accreditation of six members
of the political department of the British Embassy in Moscow in whose
actions signs of spying and sabotage were found," it said.
The six diplomats were named on Russian state TV, which also showed
photographs of them. Surveillance footage of them was also released to
Russian media, including covert video surveillance of a British diplomat
meeting someone.
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A car of the British ambassador drives out of the embassy in Moscow,
Russia September 13, 2024. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
"The English did not take our hints about the need to stop this
practice (of carrying out intelligence activities inside Russia), so
we decided to expel these six to begin with," an FSB employee whose
identity was hidden told the Rossiya-24 state TV channel.
The FSB said Russia would ask other British diplomats to go home
early if they were found to be engaged in similar activity.
The Izvestia newspaper cited the FSB as saying that the British
diplomats had recruited Russian teenagers, organized what it called
provocations, and held talks in the British ambassador's Moscow
residency with opposition figures.
It accused British diplomats of working with Russian activists to
try to create divisions within Russian society around different
ethnic groups and migrants and said many of the people involved in
coordinating Britain's work on Ukraine based in London and Kyiv were
working for the MI6 foreign intelligence service.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the
activities of the British embassy in Moscow had gone well beyond the
Vienna diplomatic conventions.
"More importantly, it is not just a question of formality and
non-compliance with declared activities, but of subversive actions
aimed at damaging our people," Zakharova said on Telegram.
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Andrew OsbornEditing by Philippa
Fletcher)
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