by Mick the Ram

A still to be named British diplomat and the spouse of a second diplomat are being expelled from Russia, accused of “intelligence and subversive work” by the Federal Security Service (FSB).

Britain called the accusations “baseless” and no evidence was put forward to support the claims.

Nevertheless, the two men have been stripped of their accreditation and ordered to leave the country within two weeks.

Just last month the UK expelled a Russian diplomat and the Foreign Ministry had said at the time that they intended to retaliate to the expulsion.

Additionally, it was only last week that a Russian court sentenced a British man to 19 years imprisonment after he was captured whilst fighting for Ukraine in the country’s Kursk region.

Relations between the UK and Russia have been rapidly deteriorating following the illegal invasion of Ukraine and relations have been further strained since Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer resolutely stood by Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Expulsions on the increase

Expulsions of diplomats, be they Western envoys working in Russia or vice-versa, have become increasingly common since tensions escalated amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The year after the invasion, Russia reported that Western countries along with Japan, had expelled a total of 670 Russian diplomats in the time between their “special military operation” beginning and October 2023.

They retaliated by expelling 346 diplomats from there own land, which they announced was more than in the previous 20 years combined.

Absolute denial

The UK Foreign Office responded to the latest action by stating: “This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff.”

They categorically denied any wrongdoing, but were not they said surprised by the action taken.

Espionage claim

For their part, Moscow said it was expelling the diplomats on grounds of espionage, insisting that the two men had declared “false information about themselves” when receiving permission to enter Russia.

Additionally, they said the men were engaging in “intelligence and subversive activities that threatened Russia’s security.”

They said they had summoned a representative of the British embassy “in protest” and added: “Moscow will not tolerate the activities of undeclared British intelligence officers on Russian territory.”

UK standing firmly with Ukraine

Interestingly, the pair are the first western diplomatic expulsions by Moscow since Russia and the US held talks on restoring relations last month, following President Donald Trump’s about-turn on America’s backing for Ukraine.

In February, the Foreign Office David Lammy said the UK will be “unapologetic” in standing up to Mr Putin, a message that the PM followed up last week when he pledged to increase defence spending and called on countries to join a “coalition of the willing” to deter the Russians from any repeated invasion should a deal be struck to end the war.

He further committed the UK to putting boots on the ground and planes in the air to help maintain a peace in Ukraine, an idea that drew heavy criticism from Moscow.