Russia’s Foreign Ministry expelled a British official stationed at the British Embassy in Moscow on Thursday, accusing him of being an undercover agent for British intelligence. File photo by Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA-EFE
Russia expelled a British diplomat Thursday, accusing him of spying for MI6 amid worsening relations between the two countries. The Foreign Office said it was “carefully considering” its response to what it said was a baseless allegation.
The allegation from Moscow is that the unidentified diplomat was an undercover agent working out of the British Embassy in the Russian capital.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said he had been given 14 days to leave Russia and had his accreditation canceled and that it had summoned charge d’affaires Danae Dholakia for an explanation.
“Moscow will not tolerate the activities of undeclared British intelligence officers on Russian territory,” the ministry said in a statement.
A warning issued to Dholakia stated that Russia would “continue to implement a line of zero-compromise on this issue” in line with the country’s national interest.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said it was another instance of Moscow making “malicious and baseless accusations against our staff.
“Their targeting of British diplomats comes out of desperation and actions like this undermine the basic conditions required for diplomatic missions to operate.”
The expulsions are the latest in a line of retaliatory actions amid a sharp deterioration in relations since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine with Britain stepping in as one of Ukraine’s key backers diplomatically and providing military and economic support.
In March 2025, Moscow expelled two British officials, accusing them of espionage and threatening Russia’s national security.
That followed the British government’s expulsion of an individual it said was an “undeclared Russian agent” and stripping diplomatic protection from Russian-owned real estate and other actions in May 2024.
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