British diplomat expelled by Russia over espionage claims, media reports say

Russia has expelled a British diplomat after accusing him of espionage, according to reports.

The Tass news agency cited Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying that the ministry had also summoned the British ambassador.

Footage shows the British ambassador’s car pulling up to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff. We will respond in due course.”

State news agencies reported the country’s FSB security service accuse the diplomat – whose photo was shown on TV bulletins – of providing false information on his documents and carrying out espionage and sabotage activities.

It added that the diplomat was a replacement for one of six UK diplomats expelled in August, also on espionage charges.

It comes amid worsening relations between the UK and Russia since the latter’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Last week it emerged the UK lifted restrictions on Ukraine using British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles on targets inside Russia for the first time.

President Vladimir Putin cited the move, alongside the launching of US-supplied longer-range missiles at Russian territory, as behind Russia’s decision to launch a new hypersonic missile at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday.

Expulsions of diplomats have become increasingly common since the war began.

Earlier this year, British diplomat Capt Adrian Coghill was given a week to leave Russia, days after the Russian defence attaché was expelled from London for alleged espionage as an “undeclared military intelligence officer”.