Russia, on Thursday, announced the expulsion of a British diplomat, accusing him of secretly working as a spy.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it summoned the United Kingdom’s chargé d’affaires after security agencies discovered that a member of the British embassy staff was linked to the UK’s intelligence services.
The ministry said the diplomat’s accreditation had been withdrawn and he was given two weeks to leave the country.
Russia and the UK have over the years expelled each other’s diplomats, with both sides trading accusations of espionage. Such actions are often followed by retaliatory measures.
Moscow warned Britain not to worsen the situation, saying it would respond firmly in a similar manner if London retaliates.
Russia’s security agency, the FSB, identified the diplomat as Gareth Samuel Davies, who is officially listed as the second secretary at the British embassy in Moscow.
Relations between London and Moscow were already highly strained, even before Russia launched its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine.
According to AFP, spying allegations have troubled ties between both countries for decades. In 2006, former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko was killed in London after being poisoned with polonium, a case British investigators blamed on Russian security agents.
AFP also reported that in 2018, tensions escalated again when the UK accused Russia of poisoning former double agent Sergei Skripal with a Novichok nerve agent in the city of Salisbury. One civilian later died after coming into contact with the poison hidden in a discarded perfume bottle, an incident that led to the largest expulsion of Russian diplomats by Western countries in decades.
