On January 15, Russia expelled a British diplomat on charges of being an unreported British intelligence officer, and warned London that Moscow would not tolerate such espionage activities continuing on Russian territory.
The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that this person holds the position of second secretary at the British Embassy in Moscow and operates secretly for the British intelligence agency. Accordingly, the British diplomat was asked to leave Russia within 2 weeks.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also summoned Ms. Danae Dholakia, British ambassador to Russia, to hand over a diplomatic note of protest regarding the incident.
Reaffirming that Moscow will not tolerate the activities of British intelligence officers who are not reported in Russia. At the same time, the Russian side also warned that if London escalates the situation, Russia will issue a decisive'proportionate' response" - the Russian Foreign Ministry statement stated.
In front of the Russian Foreign Ministry headquarters, some protesters shouted anti-British slogans as a diplomatic vehicle carrying a British representative entered the area.
The British Foreign Office has not made any comments on the above information.
In the context of prolonged conflict in Ukraine, Russia and the West have repeatedly accused each other of carrying out spy operations at an unprecedented intensity since the peak of the Cold War.
Russia believes that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the UK Foreign Intelligence Agency (MI6) and the French General Service for Foreign Affairs (DGSE) have increased efforts to steal secrets, recruit Russian citizens and cause domestic instability.
Meanwhile, leaders of Western European intelligence agencies accused the FSB, the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and the Russian Military Intelligence Service (GRU) of carrying out large-scale cyberattacks and sabotage activities throughout the West.
