Russia expels six British diplomats over espionage and sabotage allegations

Russia’s FSB security service said on Friday it had revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow after accusing them of espionage and sabotage, signaling the Kremlin’s anger at what it sees as London’s vital role in helping Ukraine.

Britain called the allegations “completely unfounded” and said they were retaliatory action after the U.K. expelled Russia’s defense attaché and stripped the diplomatic status of several Russian properties in May.

Russia announced the expulsions hours before talks in Washington between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden, a crucial step towards getting the go-ahead for kyiv to use long-range missiles against targets in Russia.

President Vladimir Putin said Thursday the West would fight Russia directly if it allowed Ukraine to attack Russian territory with Western-made long-range missiles, a move he said would alter the nature and scope of the conflict.

The Kremlin said Friday that Putin had conveyed to the West what it described as a clear and unequivocal message that it was confident had been heard.

Washington and London view the shipment of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, announced by Washington this week, as a dramatic escalation of tension and has accelerated negotiations on the use of long-range missiles by Ukraine, three Western sources said. Russia and Iran have denied any such delivery.

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 revealed facts give grounds to consider the activities of British diplomats sent to Moscow by the Directorate as a threat to the security of the Russian Federation,” the FSB said in a statement.

“On the basis of documents provided by the Russian Federal Security Service and in response to numerous hostile measures taken by London, the Russian Foreign Ministry, in cooperation with interested agencies, has cancelled the accreditation of six members of the political department of the British Embassy in Moscow, whose actions were found to be indicative of espionage and sabotage,” the statement said.

Britain said Russian accusations against its diplomats were unfounded.

“Russian authorities revoked the diplomatic accreditation of six UK diplomats in Russia last month, following measures taken by the UK government in response to Russian state-directed activity across Europe and in the UK,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.

“We make no apologies for protecting our national interests.”

LONG RANGE MISSILES

Russia’s decision to expel British diplomats raises tensions between Moscow and London, hours before Starmer lands in Washington to advance talks to get the green light from US President Joe Biden for kyiv to use Britain’s Storm Shadow missiles, which have a range of more than 250 km (155 miles), inside Russia.

Sources say the meeting is another step in talks to allow Ukraine to use long-range Western missiles against targets in Russia, something Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been demanding for months.

A Western source said a decision could be taken at the United Nations General Assembly which begins on September 24.

The New York Times reported, citing European officials, that the United States appears willing to approve Ukraine’s use of long-range missiles against targets in Russia on the condition that the weapons are not those provided by the United States.

SURVEILLANCE IMAGES

The six British diplomats were named on Russian state television, 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.

“The British did not understand our hints about the need to stop this practice (intelligence activities inside Russia), that is why we decided to expel these six to begin with,” an FSB employee whose identity was withheld told state television channel Rossiya-24.

The FSB said Russia would ask other British diplomats to return home early if they were found to be involved in similar activities.

The Izvestia newspaper quoted the FSB as saying British diplomats had recruited Russian teenagers, staged what it called provocations and held talks at the British ambassador’s residence in Moscow with opposition figures.

The paper accused British diplomats of working with Russian activists to try to create divisions within Russian society around different ethnic groups and immigrants and said many of those involved in coordinating British work on Ukraine based in London and kyiv worked for the MI6 foreign intelligence service. It gave no details.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the British embassy’s activities in Moscow had gone far beyond Vienna’s diplomatic conventions.

“More importantly, this is not just a matter of formality and failure to carry out declared activities, but subversive actions aimed at harming our people,” Zakharova said on Telegram.