BBC | A British diplomat and the spouse of another diplomat are being expelled from Russia, the country’s domestic security service has said, in what is being seen as the latest tit-for-tat escalation.
The two men are accused of “intelligence and subversive work” by the Federal Security Service (FSB) which said they had been stripped of their accreditation and ordered to leave Russia within two weeks.
The UK Foreign Office said: “This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff.”
Last month, the UK expelled a Russian diplomat – an action taken in response to Moscow’s expulsion of a British diplomat in November 2024.
The Russian Foreign Ministry had said then that it intended to retaliate to the expulsion.
In the past year alone, there have been seven British diplomats expelled from Russia with Moscow accusing them of espionage – allegations denied by the UK.
Relations between the UK and Russia have deteriorated to post-Cold War lows in the years following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In Monday’s reported action, Moscow said it was expelling the diplomats on grounds of espionage.
In a statement the FSB said the two had declared “false information about themselves when receiving permission” to enter Russia.
Russia’s foreign ministry said on Monday it had also summoned a representative of the British embassy “in protest”.
The pair appear to be the first western diplomatic expulsions by Moscow since Russia and the US held talks on restoring relations last month – the first time in three years since the start of the Ukraine war.
But relations between Britain and Russia have been further strained as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has resolutely stood by Ukraine.
He has pledged to increase defence spending and called on countries to join a “coalition of the willing” to deter Russia from further invading Ukraine in the event of a peace deal.
He has committed the UK to putting boots on the ground and planes in the air to help maintain a peace. Moscow has criticised the idea of a foreign peacekeeping mission.