By Emmanuel Nduka
Russian President, Vladimir Putin has ordered the expulsion of the United Kingdom’s defence attache in Moscow in response to a similar move by the UK authorities last week, Moscow’s foreign ministry said Thursday.
“The defence attache at the British Embassy in Moscow, A. T. Coghill, has been declared persona non grata. He must leave the territory of the Russian Federation within a week,” the statement said.
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The United Kingdom’s defence attache’s expulsion in Moscow was in response to a similar move by the UK authorities last week.
On May 8, Russia’s defence attache, whom the UK accused of being an “undeclared military intelligence officer”, was sacked, removing diplomatic status from the Russian-owned Seacox Heath property in Sussex and the Russian embassy’s trade and defence section in Highgate.
The UK also imposed new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas, including the length of time Russian diplomats can spend in the country.
The UK said the properties had been used for intelligence purposes and accused Russia of sponsoring a Bulgarian spy ring in Britain, inciting a further five individuals to undertake “‘hostile activity in the UK in order to benefit a foreign state – namely Russia”, and of carrying out hacking attacks against UK parliamentarians and leaking UK-US trade documents.
