Russia revokes accreditation of six British diplomats it accuses of spying
Russia’s FSB security service has revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow whose actions it said showed signs of spying and sabotage work.
The FSB said on Friday it had documents showing that a British Foreign Office department in London was coordinating what it called “the escalation of the political and military situation” and was tasked with ensuring Russia’s strategic defeat in its war against Ukraine.
“Thus, the facts revealed give grounds to consider the activities of British diplomats sent to Moscow by the directorate as threatening the security of the Russian Federation,” the FSB said in a statement.
It added: “In this connection, on the basis of documents provided by the Federal Security Service of Russia and as a response to the numerous unfriendly steps taken by London, the ministry of foreign affairs of Russia, in cooperation with the agencies concerned, has terminated the accreditation of six members of the political department of the British embassy in Moscow in whose actions signs of spying and sabotage were found.”
The six diplomats were named on Russian state TV, which also showed photographs of them.
An FSB employee told Rossiya-24: “The English did not take our hints about the need to stop this practice [of carrying out intelligence activities inside Russia], so we decided to expel these six to begin with.”
Key events
The UK government has reiterated that it sees it as “a significant escalation” that Iran has supplied Russia with more armaments. In a statement about UK prime minister’s visit to Washington today, the government said:
The prime minister has arrived in Washington to hold talks with US president Joe Biden today. In an extended meeting at the White House, the prime minister and the president will discuss a wide range of pressing international issues – including our ongoing support for Ukraine.
It follows the foreign secretary and US secretary of state’s visit to Kyiv this week, where they heard directly from President Zelenskiy about Ukraine’s current position against Russia’s ongoing barbaric invasion.
In a significant escalation, it was also confirmed this week that Iran has transferred ballistic missiles to Russia – bolstering Putin’s capability to continue his illegal war. The UK confirmed an extra £600m ($790m / €710m) of support for Ukraine yesterday, on top of the £3bn ($3.9bn / €3.6bn) a year for as long as needed confirmed by the prime minister in July.
The statement made no specific mention of discussing allowing Ukraine to use longer range weapons against targets inside Russia.
The New York Times has been suggesting overnight that US president Joe Biden will be minded to approve the use of longer-range Nato-supplied weapons launched at targets inside Russia by Ukraine. It writes:
President Biden appears on the verge of clearing the way for Ukraine to launch long-range western weapons deep inside Russian territory, as long as it doesn’t use arms provided by the US, European officials say.
Britain has already signaled that it is eager to let Ukraine use its “Storm Shadow” long-range missiles to strike at Russian military targets far from the Ukrainian border. But it wants explicit permission from Biden in order to demonstrate a coordinated strategy with the US and France, which makes a similar missile. American officials say Biden has not made a decision, but will hear from UK prime minister Keir Starmer on Friday.
Biden has hesitated to allow Ukraine to use American weapons in the same way, particularly after warnings from American intelligence agencies that Russia could respond by aiding Iran in targeting American forces in the Middle East.
Reuters reports Ukraine’s air force said on Friday it shot down 24 of 26 Russia-launched drones overnight over five Ukrainian regions. The news agency cited to a statement posted on the Telegram messaging app.
Putin ally accuses Nato states of ‘direct participation in military action’
The chairman of Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on Friday accused Nato of being a direct party to military action in Ukraine, suggesting it was already heavily involved in military decision-making.
The comments were made by Vyacheslav Volodin, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, came a day after Putin warned that the West would be directly fighting with Russia if it allowed Ukraine to strike Russian territory with western-made long-range missiles.
Reuters quotes Volodin, accussing Nato of helping Ukraine choose which Russian cities to target, of agreeing specific military action, and of giving Kyiv orders:
The US, Germany, Britain and France are discussing the possibility of strikes using long-range weapons on the territory of our country. This is nothing but an attempt to camouflage and conceal their direct participation in military action.
Zakharova: British diplomatic actions in Russia were ‘aimed at causing harm to our people’
Russia’s foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has said the British diplomatic mission in Russia had been engaged in activities “far beyond” the Vienna convention that were “aimed at causing harm to our people”.
Speaking to state-owned news agency Tass, she said:
We fully share the assessments of the activities of the British so-called diplomats expressed by the Russian FSB. The British embassy has gone far beyond the limits outlined by the Vienna conventions. But the most important thing is that we are not only talking about the formal side of the issue and the inconsistency with the declared activities, but about such actions aimed at causing harm to our people.
Zakharova did not produce any evidence to back up the assertion. Russia has claimed that a department in the British foreign office has been, Tass reports, “transformed into a special service for inflicting a strategic defeat on Russia.”
Russia revokes accreditation of six British diplomats it accuses of spying
Russia’s FSB security service has revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow whose actions it said showed signs of spying and sabotage work.
The FSB said on Friday it had documents showing that a British Foreign Office department in London was coordinating what it called “the escalation of the political and military situation” and was tasked with ensuring Russia’s strategic defeat in its war against Ukraine.
“Thus, the facts revealed give grounds to consider the activities of British diplomats sent to Moscow by the directorate as threatening the security of the Russian Federation,” the FSB said in a statement.
It added: “In this connection, on the basis of documents provided by the Federal Security Service of Russia and as a response to the numerous unfriendly steps taken by London, the ministry of foreign affairs of Russia, in cooperation with the agencies concerned, has terminated the accreditation of six members of the political department of the British embassy in Moscow in whose actions signs of spying and sabotage were found.”
The six diplomats were named on Russian state TV, which also showed photographs of them.
An FSB employee told Rossiya-24: “The English did not take our hints about the need to stop this practice [of carrying out intelligence activities inside Russia], so we decided to expel these six to begin with.”
Welcome and opening summary …
Welcome to the Guardian’s ongoing live coverage of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Here are your headlines …
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Russia’s FSB security service has revoked the accreditation of six British diplomats in Moscow whose actions it said showed signs of spying and sabotage work. The six diplomats were named on Russian state TV, which also showed photographs of them
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Vladimir Putin has said that a western move to let Kyiv use longer-range weapons against targets inside Russia would mean Nato would be “at war” with Moscow. Putin spoke as US and UK top diplomats discussed easing rules on firing western weapons into Russia, which Kyiv has been pressing for, more than two and a half years into Moscow’s offensive. The Russian president has frequently accused Nato of being an active participant in the war
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The UK prime minister Keir Starmer has told Putin that he started the war in Ukraine and could end it at any time. Responding directly to threats by the Russian president, Starmer told reporters: “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away. Ukraine has the right to self-defence”
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Ukraine’s air force said on Friday it shot down 24 of 26 Russia-launched drones overnight over five Ukrainian regions
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Russia says its forces have recaptured 10 settlements after it launched a counteroffensive in the Kursk region to push out Ukrainian troops who stormed across the border five weeks ago. With fierce fighting continuing, Russia’s defence ministry listed the names of 10 settlements it said it had retaken
It is Martin Belam with you today. You can contact me on martin.belam@theguardian.com.
