UK to expel Russian defense attaché accused of being spy

The United Kingdom will expel the Russian defense attaché in the United Kingdom, described by London as a “undeclared military intelligence officer”, announced Wednesday, May 8, the Minister of the Interior, James Cleverly. In a statement to Parliament on “malicious activities” attributed to Russia, the head of the Home Office also announced that several Russian properties on British soil, which London suspects of having been used “for information purposes”would lose their diplomatic status.

James Cleverly also announced “new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas”, in particular by limiting the time that Russian diplomats can spend in the United Kingdom. According to him, the measures put in place by London and its allies in recent years “already make the UK an extremely difficult location for Russian intelligence services to operate in”.

“We will expel the Russian defense attaché, who is an undeclared military intelligence officer”, declared the head of the Home Office to the deputies. A defense attaché is a member of the armed forces serving in an embassy and who represents their country’s defense sector abroad.

UK to expect ‘accusations of Russophobia’

“Our message to Russia is clear: stop this illegal war, withdraw your troops from Ukraine, stop these malicious activities”launched James Cleverly, warning that the United Kingdom should expect “in the coming days” has “Accusations of Russophobia, conspiracy theories and hysteria from the Russian government”.

At the end of April, the United Kingdom called for “immediate end” of the “malicious activities orchestrated by Russia” on its ground. This statement came after the indictment in London of a 20-year-old British man, under the national security law, for the alleged organization of attacks against “businesses linked to Ukraine”.

Then on May 2, NATO countries said to themselves “deeply concerned about malicious activity” of Russia on their soil and assured that they would not “dissuade[aient] not to continue supporting Ukraine”.