Russia announced today it will expel two British ‘diplomats’ on suspicion of carrying out espionage activities.
The second secretary of the British embassy in Moscow and the spouse of another British diplomat were stripped of accreditation in Russia, the Federal Security Service (FSB) reported.
The report claimed the diplomats had provided false information about themselves and and noted alleged evidence of their intelligence and covert activities.
The FSB said ‘counterintelligence work had revealed an undeclared British intelligence presence under the cover of the national embassy.’
The foreign ministry also summoned an embassy representative, it said in a post on Telegram.
They were accused of ‘intelligence and subversive activities that threaten Russia’s security’, according to state news outlets.
The FSB said they ‘intentionally provided false information when receiving permission to enter our country, thereby violating Russian law’.
Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with workers and wards of The Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 6, 2025
The security service also ‘identified signs of intelligence and subversive work by the said diplomats that threatens the security of the Russian Federation’, reported Interfax.
‘Both will be stripped of their accreditation and must leave Russia within two weeks,’ said the Russian defence ministry’s news outlet, Zvezda.
‘Russia’s FSB will continue working to combat the reconnaissance and disruptive activities of foreign intelligence agencies by all available means,’ the statement adds.
Breaking conventions, the Russian state media today named one and the partner of the other. MailOnline has not named the diplomats.
A senior British diplomat was seen entering and leaving the Russian foreign ministry to be informed of the explosions.
State media representatives had plainly been tipped off in advance to doorstep the moment the envoy entered and left the foreign ministry.
In September 2024, the accreditation of six diplomats was terminated, and in November, a second secretary of the British embassy’s department was ordered to leave Russia.
MailOnline approached the Foreign Office for comment.
