Russia expels British defense attaché in a tit
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia on Thursday declared Britain’s defense attaché persona non grata and gave the diplomat a week to leave the country in response to London’s decision to expel the Russian defense attaché earlier this month over spying allegations.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it summoned a representative of the British Embassy in Moscow on Thursday to express its “strong protest in connection with the unfriendly and groundless decision” to expel the Russian attaché from London. “We emphasized that we regard this step as a politically motivated action of clearly Russophobic nature, which is causing irreparable damage to bilateral relations,” the statement read.
Britain on May 8 announced several measures to target Moscow’s intelligence gathering operations in the U.K. Those included a decision to boot Maxim Elovik, a Russian colonel who the British government termed an “undeclared military intelligence officer,” rescinding the diplomatic status of several Russian-owned properties because they are believed to have been used for intelligence purposes, and imposing new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas and visits.