Russia announced on Tuesday that it is expelling a British diplomat accused of espionage, escalating already strained relations with the UK. The diplomat, according to Russia’s FSB security service, allegedly engaged in “intelligence and subversive work” that posed a threat to Russian national security.
The expulsion comes after Moscow summoned Britain’s ambassador to the Russian Foreign Ministry. State media broadcast footage of the ambassador arriving for talks in central Moscow shortly after the announcement. The FSB claimed that the expelled diplomat had provided “false information” when obtaining entry permission, a violation of Russian law.
This move follows Russia’s confirmation of the arrest of a British citizen accused of fighting for Ukraine, intensifying tensions between Moscow and Western nations.
Spy Scandals and Diplomatic Fallout
Diplomatic relations between the UK and Russia have been repeatedly tested over espionage allegations in recent years. The expelled diplomat is said to have replaced one of six British officials previously expelled by Russia earlier this year, also on spying charges.
The history of spy scandals stretches back decades. Notably, the 2006 assassination of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko in London strained ties significantly. In 2018, the attempted Novichok poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal in the UK led to Britain and its allies expelling dozens of Russian embassy officials accused of being spies. While Skripal survived, a British civilian lost her life after coming into contact with a contaminated perfume bottle.
British Fighter Arrested in Russia
In a separate but related development, a Russian court in the western Kursk region confirmed the arrest of James Scott Rhys Anderson, a 22-year-old British citizen accused of fighting for Ukraine. Anderson, reportedly dismissed from the British Army in 2023, appeared in a video circulating on pro-Kremlin Telegram channels, where he identified himself and claimed to have joined the Ukrainian army.
The footage, which has not been independently verified, showed Anderson with his hands tied. The court alleged that he “participated in armed hostilities” in the Kursk region and accused him of committing “particularly serious offences that pose a danger to society.”
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy stated that the British government is aware of Anderson’s situation and is committed to offering him all possible support. Russia considers foreign fighters in Ukraine to be “mercenaries,” enabling prosecution under its criminal code rather than granting them prisoner-of-war status under the Geneva Convention.
This incident recalls the 2022 sentencing of two British fighters to death in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine for their involvement with Ukraine’s military. The two were later released in a prisoner exchange.
