LONDON (Agencies): The United Kingdom has announced plans to expel a Russian diplomat, who it accuses of being an undeclared military intelligence officer, and to revoke and restrict Russian diplomatic privileges. This move comes after UK Interior Minister James Cleverly accused Russia of “malign activity”.
Cleverly stated that the British government will remove diplomatic status from several Russian-linked properties in the UK and impose new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas. He announced this package of measures in the House of Commons, emphasizing that the UK will not tolerate such apparent escalations.
This decision is part of a broader pattern of Russian behaviour across Europe, including plans for sabotage activities against military aid for Ukraine in Germany and Poland, espionage in Bulgaria and Italy, cyber attacks and disinformation activities, airspace violations, and GPS jamming impacting civil aviation.
Last month, Estonia accused Russia of jamming GPS signals, causing serious damage to Estonian air traffic. In April, a British man was charged over alleged hostile state activity intended to benefit Russia, including recruiting others for an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked commercial property in London.
Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova dismissed the British allegations of Russian involvement in the arson attack as absurd and part of an information war.