Britain on Wednesday summoned the Russian ambassador and revoked the accreditation of a Russian diploma. Seen here is the Consular Section of the Russian Embassy in Central London, Britain, in January 2017. File Photo by Will Oliver/EPA
Britain has expelled a Russian diplomat in retaliation for Moscow doing the same last month to a British official it accused of spying.
The tit-for-tat expulsions come as tensions rise between the two countries, with Britain accusing Russian submarines and undersea naval units in recent weeks of operating in and around British waters.
Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office announced the unidentified Russian diplomat’s expulsion Wednesday in a statement, saying it had summoned Russian Ambassador to Britain Andrei Kelin to inform him of the “reciprocal action.”
“Russia’s repeated unprovoked and unjustified actions are designed to disrupt our diplomatic work and form part of a wider campaign of aggressive behavior toward the U.K.,” the office said.
“Any further action by Russia will be treated as an escalation and met with a firm and proportionate response.”
UPI has contacted the Russian Embassy in London for comment.
The expulsion is in response to Russia expelling a British diplomat late last month who the Federal Security Service accused of being a British intelligence agent involved in “intelligence and subversive activities on Russian territory.”
The FSB identified the diplomat as Albertus Gerardus Janse van Rensburg, second secretary of the British Embassy in Moscow, stating he attempted to “obtain sensitive information during informal meetings with Russian economic experts.”
Britain’s foreign office on Wednesday condemned Russia’s “unjustified decision” to expel Janse van Rensburg and “the malicious public smear campaign that followed.”
“This behavior is wholly unacceptable, and we will not tolerate harassment or intimidation of our diplomatic staff,” it said.
The expulsion comes two weeks after Britain announced on April 9 that it had detected a Russian attack submarine entering international waters in the High North to distract from undersea naval units conducting “nefarious activity over critical undersea infrastructure elsewhere.”
The operation occurred several weeks before the announcement. Britain said the activity targeted subsea fiber-optic cables, which carry more than 99% of international data traffic, including voice calls and Internet data.
British and allied military assets were deployed, forcing the Russian GUGI units and Akula-class submarine to retreat, the Ministry of Defense said.
