- FSB security service allegedly uncovered evidence the diplomats were spying
Six British diplomats have been expelled from Russia by the FSB security service which claimed it had uncovered evidence the envoys were engaged in spying and sabotage work.
Britain’s embassy in Moscow did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but it is understood the diplomats – from the British Embassy’s political department – left Russia early in September.
Russian state-run TV channel Zvezda – owned by the Defence Ministry – showed footage of the diplomats leaving Moscow, and directly alleged that they were ‘spies’.
‘British embassy staff expelled from Russia turned out to be spies,’ said the channel. ‘Our special services found signs of intelligence and subversive work.’
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.
‘In this connection… the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia 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 timing of the announcement comes as Britain is seen as leading Western efforts to allow Ukraine to deploy long range missiles on targets deep inside Russia, starting with UK Storm Shadow missiles.
Sir Keir Starmer is set to discuss this prospect with US President Joe Biden later today.
Diplomats were shown loading up a car before being expelled from the Embassy
British Ambassador’s residence in Moscow, Russia
The expulsions come at a time when the British Embassy in Moscow – headed by ambassador Nigel Casey – already has the lowest number of diplomats in Moscow for many decades
‘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 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.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was cited by the state TASS news agency as saying the activities of the British embassy in Moscow had gone well beyond diplomatic convention and accusing it of carrying out deliberate activity designed to harm the Russian people.
TV Zvezda said: ‘Intelligence officers are always working in the embassy of any country, and this is standard diplomatic practice.
‘The other thing is that now – when global security is under threat – instead of building a dialogue with Russia, the embassy in Moscow, and in a broader sense the Foreign Office itself, has turned into a branch of British intelligence.’
The TV station added: ‘The FSB does not rule out that the withdrawal of accreditation from six British diplomats is only the first step.
‘The agency says it will continue to consider the embassy staff in Moscow as involved in the activities of British intelligence.’
The expulsions come at a time when the British Embassy in Moscow – headed by ambassador Nigel Casey – already has the lowest number of diplomats in Moscow for many decades.
