Moscow, Sep 13 (EFE).- Russia has revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats it accuses of spying and subversion, and is expelling them, Moscow authorities said Friday.
Moscow’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said in a statement that it had received documents indicating Britain was coordinating the “escalation of the international military-political situation,” and that a British Foreign Office department in London responsible for eastern Europe and central Asia was tasked with ensuring Russia’s strategic defeat in its war in Ukraine, official news agency TASS reported.
“Thus, the facts that have been revealed provide grounds to consider the activities of British diplomats sent to Moscow by the directorate as threatening the security of the Russian Federation,” the FSB continued.
“In connection with this, based on documents provided by the Russian FSB, and also as a response to numerous unfriendly steps by London, the Russian foreign ministry, in cooperation with related departments, has terminated the accreditation of six employees of the political department of the British embassy in Moscow, in whose actions signs of conducting intelligence and subversive activities were discovered,” it added.
State TV channels showed the names and photos of the diplomats, and broadcast a video of an anonymous security official who claimed that “London is sending us spies disguised as spouses of diplomats.”
“Classic British espionage. It’s fun to watch, but it is no longer possible. The English did not take our hints about the need to stop this practice, so we decided to expel these six to begin with,” he said.
He also warned that if others are found to be engaged in similar activity they will also be expelled.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the diplomatic mission of the United Kingdom in Moscow has “gone far beyond the limits outlined by the Vienna Conventions.”
“But the most important thing is that we are not only talking about the formal side of the issue and the inconsistency with the declared activities, but about such actions aimed at causing harm to our people,” she said, according to TASS.
The British government has so far not commented on Moscow’s move to expel the diplomats.
British Prime Minister Kier Starmer was in Washington Friday to speak with US President Joe Biden and is expected to seek approval to allow Ukraine to utilize British missiles to strike targets inside Russia.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has warned that allowing this would mean that “Nato countries, the US, European countries, are at war with Russia” and that Moscow would react with “appropriate decisions.” EFE
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