Russia expels six British diplomats from Moscow for ‘spying and sabotage’

Published

2 months ago

September 13, 2024

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Six British diplomats have been expelled from Russia after being accused of “spying and sabotage”.

The country’s FSB security service said they worked in the “political department” of the British embassy in Moscow.

A Foreign Office spokesperson called the claims “completely baseless”.

Ukraine war latest: Putin threatens NATO with ‘war’ over long-range missiles

They said the diplomats’ had been expelled in August “following action taken by the UK government in response to Russian state-directed activity across Europe and in the UK”.

“We are unapologetic about protecting our national interests,” the spokesperson added.

The FSB claimed the Eastern Europe and Central Asia branch of the Foreign Office was now a “special service whose main task is to inflict a strategic defeat on our country”.

News of the expulsion comes as President Vladimir Putin warned against Ukraine getting approval to use Western-supplied long-range missiles against Russia.

He said it would “significantly change the very essence, the very nature of the conflict” and “mean that NATO countries, US, European countries are at war with Russia“.

British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and US President Joe Biden will meet in Washington on Friday with a decision on approving the missiles believed to be imminent.

On the plane to the US, Sir Keir said Britain did not “seek any conflict with Russia”.

“Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia could end this conflict straight away,” he told reporters.

“Ukraine has the right to self-defence and we’ve obviously been absolutely fully supportive of Ukraine’s right to self-defence – we’re providing training capability, as you know,” said the prime minister

“But we don’t seek any conflict with Russia – that’s not our intention in the slightest.”

Kremlin ‘punishes’ UK – but timing of announcement is interesting

Deborah Haynes

Security and Defence Editor

@haynesdeborah

The very public expulsion by Russia of six British diplomats in Moscow, accused of involvement in spying and sabotage, is a way for the Kremlin to punish London.

Revoking the accreditation of diplomats is a tool that all countries can use to attack each other or send signals of anger.

The UK expelled almost two dozen Russia officials in London, accused of spying, in the wake of the novichok nerve agent poisoning of Sergei Skripal, the former Russian double agent, and his daughter Yulia in 2018.

This triggered a tit-for tat rejection of some British officials at the embassy in Moscow.

In the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, there have been further expulsions by the UK and – in much greater numbers – other European allies.

In May of this year, Britain announced it was expelling Russia’s defence attache, accusing him of being an “undeclared military intelligence officer” amid concerns about what the UK described as a campaign of “malign activity” by Moscow across the UK and Europe.

The Kremlin retaliated by expelling the British defence attache from Moscow.

The most recent expulsions of UK diplomats are thought to be linked to these escalating tensions as opposed to having anything to do with the UK support for Ukraine.

However, the timing of the publication of the decision by Russian state media on Friday is interesting.

It comes as the UK and the US are weighing up whether to allow Ukraine to use their long-range missiles to strike targets inside Russia – a move that President Putin has said would be regarded as Western allies directly joining the war against Russia.

Sir Keir Starmer and Joe Biden are due to meeting Washington on Friday with a decision of green-lighting the use of UK-French Storm Shadow cruise missiles thought to be imminent.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has for months been asking permission to fire long-range Storm Shadow missiles, as well as US-made ATACMS missiles, into Russia to limit its ability to launch attacks.

The dial may now have shifted after the US accused Russia of taking delivery of ballistic missiles from Iran, against the warnings of the West.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken called it a “dramatic escalation”.

President Biden has previously limited the distance US-provided missiles can be fired across the border amid concerns over an escalation.

Five weeks ago, Ukraine also launched an incursion into Russia’s western Kursk region in a bid to gain an advantage in the war and divert Russian troops from Ukraine’s Donetsk region.

President Zelenskyy said on Thursday Russia had started a “counteroffensive action” in Kursk, but that Ukrainian forces had anticipated it and were ready to fight.

Russia’s defence ministry said 10 settlements had been recaptured.

UK

Gatwick Airport: Police release two people who were detained amid security incident as South Terminal reopens

Published

27 mins ago

November 23, 2024

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Gatwick Airport: Police release two people who were detained amid security incident as South Terminal reopens

Two people detained during a security incident at Gatwick Airport have been allowed to continue their journeys after a suspect package saw a “large part” of the South Terminal evacuated.

The terminal was closed for hours after the discovery of a “suspected prohibited item” in a passenger’s luggage sparked an emergency response. It reopened at around 3.45pm.

Officers from the EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) team “made the package safe” before handing the airport back to its operator, Sussex Police said.

Their statement continued: “Two people who were detained while enquiries were ongoing have subsequently been allowed to continue their journeys.

“There will remain an increased police presence in the area to assist with passengers accessing the South Terminal for onward travel.”

The force also thanked the public and airport staff for their patience while the incident was ongoing.

Earlier the airport, which is the UK’s second busiest, said the terminal was evacuated after a “security incident”.

“The earlier security alert has now been resolved and cleared by police,” it later said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

“The South Terminal is reopening to staff and will be open to passengers shortly.”

Gatwick said some flights were cancelled while others were delayed.

It said passengers should contact their airlines for any updates on flights.

Footage on social media taken outside the airport showed crowds of travellers heading away from the terminal building.

“Arrived at London Gatwick for routine connection. Got through customs to find out they’re evacuating the entire airport,” one passenger said.

“Even people through security are being taken outside. Trains shut down,” another passenger added, who said “thousands” of people were forced to leave.

Another passenger said people near the gates were being told to stay there and not go back to the departure lounge.

People outside the airport were handed blankets and water, passengers told Sky News.

The airport said its North Terminal was still operating normally.

Gatwick Express said its trains did not call at Gatwick Airport during the police response, but the airport said trains would start calling there again once the terminal was fully reopened.

More than 600 flights were due to take off or land at Gatwick on Friday, amounting to more than 121,000 passenger seats, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.

UK

Starmer says UK will ‘set out a path’ to raise defence spending to 2.5%

Published

3 hours ago

November 23, 2024

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Starmer says UK will 'set out a path' to raise defence spending to 2.5%

The UK will “set out a path” to lift defence spending to 2.5% of national income in the spring, the prime minister has said, finally offering a timeframe for an announcement on the long-awaited hike after mounting criticism.

Sir Keir Starmer gave the date during a phone call with Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO, in the wake of threats by Moscow to target UK and US military facilities following a decision by London and Washington to let Ukraine fire their missiles inside Russia.

There was no clarity though on when the 2.5% level will be achieved. The UK says it currently spends around 2.3% of GDP on defence.

Ukraine war latest: Follow live updates

A spokeswoman for Downing Street said that the two men “began by discussing the situation in Ukraine and reiterated the importance of putting the country in the strongest possible position going into the winter”.

They also talked about the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers to fight alongside Russia.

“The prime minister underscored the need for all NATO countries to step up in support of our collective defence and updated on the government’s progress on the strategic defence review,” the spokeswoman said.

“His government would set out the path to 2.5% in the spring.”

The defence review will also be published in the spring.

While a date for an announcement on 2.5% will be welcomed by the Ministry of Defence, analysts have long warned that such an increase is still well below the amount that is needed to rebuild the armed forces after decades of decline to meet growing global threats from Russia, an increasingly assertive China, North Korea and Iran.

They say the UK needs to be aiming to hit at least 3% – probably higher.

With Donald Trump returning to the White House, there will be significantly more pressure on the UK and other European NATO allies to accelerate increases in defence spending.