Russia to expel six British diplomats accused of spying

Russia has accused six British diplomats of spying and says it decided to expel them, an announcement that comes as tensions between Moscow and the West grow during an intensified push by Ukraine to loosen restrictions on using weapons provided by the US and Britain to strike Russia.

Russia's Federal Security Service said on Friday a decision was made to withdraw their accreditations, and Russian state TV quoted an official from the security service known as the FSB as saying a decision was made to expel them.

The UK said the expulsions took place in August.

The move comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Washington for talks with President Joe Biden that will include Ukraine's request to use Western-supplied weapons against targets inside Russia.

Starmer said on his way to the US that Britain did not "seek any conflict with Russia".

"Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia could end this conflict straight away," he told reporters.

"Ukraine has the right to self-defence and we've obviously been absolutely fully supportive of Ukraine's right to self-defence - we're providing training capability, as you know," he said.

The FSB said it received documents indicating that the diplomats were sent to Russia by a division of the UK Foreign Office "whose main task is to inflict a strategic defeat on our country", and they were involved in "intelligence-gathering and subversive activities".

Based on these documents and "in response to numerous unfriendly steps by London," the Russian foreign ministry withdrew the accreditation of the diplomats, the FSB said, without identifying them.

Russian state TV said in a report the six diplomats had met independent media and rights groups that have been declared "foreign agents" - a label the Russian authorities have actively used against organisations and individuals critical of the Kremlin.

Britain called the allegations against the diplomats "completely baseless".

It said the expulsions happened weeks ago, linking them to Britain's decision in May to revoke the credentials of an attache at Moscow's London embassy and to impose a five-year time limit on all Russian diplomats in Britain.

The UK expelled Russia's defence attache in London in May, alleging he was an undeclared intelligence officer, and closed several Russian diplomatic properties in Britain that it said were being used for spying.

About a week later, Russia reciprocated and expelled Britain's defence attache.

"The Russian authorities revoked the diplomatic accreditation of six UK diplomats in Russia last month, following action taken by the UK government in response to Russian state directed activity across Europe and in the UK," the Foreign Office said in a statement.

"We are unapologetic about protecting our national interests."

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said "we fully agree with the assessments of the activities of the British so-called diplomats expressed by the Russian FSB".

She said the diplomats were carrying out "subversive actions aimed at causing harm to our people".

Expulsions of diplomats - both Western diplomats working in Russia and Russian diplomats working in Western countries - have become increasingly common since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Russian news outlet RBC counted in 2023 that Western countries and Japan expelled 670 Russian diplomats between the beginning of 2022 and October 2023, while Moscow expelled 346 diplomats in response.

According to RBC, it was more than in the previous 20 years combined.