Yesterday at 19:25
The UK government decides to “target and dismantle Russian intelligence gathering operations in the UK”, including expelling an undeclared military intelligence officer and restricting Russian diplomats in the UK.
This was reported by Reuters, citing the official website of the UK government.
“We will remove diplomatic premises status from some properties linked to Russia in the UK […] We are imposing new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas, including capping the duration of time Russian diplomats can spend in the UK,” UK Home Secretary James Cleverly said.
Seacox Heath and the Trade and Defence Section in Highgate are among the Russia-owned properties believed to have been used for intelligence purposes.
The UK summoned the Russian Ambassador to officially present the measures and “reiterate that Russia’s actions will not be tolerated”.
“These actions, the latest in a string of robust measures taken against Russia to protect the UK, follow a pattern of malign activity carried out both here and abroad in the past year, which is believed to be linked to Russia,” reads the statement on the website.
EU states keep reporting incidents that probably have a lot to do with Russia. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna summoned the head of the Russian embassy in Tallinn to officially oppose Russia due to it jamming GPS in the Estonian airspace, which is a violation of international airspace regulations.
In addition, at the end of April, Czech investigators came to a conclusion Russia was behind explosions at the ammunition warehouse in Vrbetice in 2014. It was established that the Skripalsʼ poisoners in the UK — Aleksandr Mishkin and Anatolii Chepiga — were among the perpetrators.
“Since the illegal invasion of Ukraine, Russia’s attempts to undermine UK and European security have become increasingly brazen,” stated David Cameron, Foreign Minister of the UK.
Read also: Estonian Parliament proclaims Russian Orthodox Church “institution sponsoring war”
