Fury as Russia expels UK diplomat over 'baseless' and 'malicious' spying accusations

Spying accusations branded “baseless” by the Foreign Office have been levelled against a British diplomat in the Moscow Embassy who has been ordered to leave Russia. The Russian secret service (FSB) released a statement on Monday alleging the UK embassy employee had been conducting “intelligence and subversive activities that threaten the security of the Russian Federation”.

In a statement, the FSB claimed it had “reliably established” that the Embassy worker “intentionally provided false information when receiving permission to enter our country, thereby violating Russian law”. The agency also said the alleged British spook had tried to “obtain sensitive information during informal meetings with Russian economic experts”.

The diplomat has been ordered to leave Russia within two weeks. The Daily Express has chosen not to name the individual identified in Russian news reports, as doing so may aid Vladimir Putin’s propaganda agenda.

Tensions remain high between the Kremlin and Downing Street over Britain’s ongoing support for Ukraine against Putin’s four-year-long invasion.

The expulsion is the second enforced by Moscow in just three months.

In January, the Russian foreign office summoned the British chargé d’affaires, Danae Dholakia, to lodge a “strong protest” and to inform her that another male diplomat, accused of being an “undeclared British intelligence officer,” was being expelled.

Days later, the Foreign Office summoned Russian ambassador Andrey Kelin over the “unprovoked and unjustified” action, and London hit back by revoking the accreditation of a Russian diplomat, forcing them to leave the country.

In March 2025, Moscow expelled two British diplomats over spying allegations that the UK also dismissed as false.

Responding to the latest tit-for-tat move by Moscow against another UK diplomat, an FCDO spokeswoman said: “The accusations made today by Russia against our diplomats are completely unacceptable.

“Russia has pursued an increasingly aggressive and coordinated campaign of harassment against British diplomats, pumping out malicious and completely baseless accusations about their work.

“The UK does not stand for intimidation of British Embassy staff and their families.”