The United Kingdom will expel a Russian diplomat it accuses of being a spy, and revoke and restrict Russian diplomatic privileges after a British minister accused the country of “malign activity.”
U.K. Interior Minister James Cleverly said the British government will expel the Russian defence attaché, who he said is “an undeclared military intelligence officer,” as well as remove diplomatic status from several Russian-linked properties in the U.K. and impose new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas.
“I’m announcing a package of measures to make clear to Russia that we will not tolerate such apparent escalations,” Cleverly said in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
He said it was part of a broader pattern of Russian behaviour across Europe.
“These include plans for sabotage activities against military aid for Ukraine, in Germany and Poland, espionage in Bulgaria, and in Italy, cyber attacks and disinformation activities, airspace violations and GPS jamming with an impact on civil aviation,” he …