The United Kingdom has decided to expel russia's defense attaché, withdraw diplomatic status from certain facilities and limit the validity of russian diplomatic visas in response to what Home Secretary James Cleverly called "malicious activity" by moscow. UNN reports with reference to Reuters.
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During his speech in Parliament, Cleverley said that Britain is already an "extremely difficult operating environment for russian intelligence services" but that measures are planned to strengthen the country's resilience to the russian threat.
We will expel the russian defense attaché, who is an undeclared military intelligence officer. We will withdraw diplomatic premises status from several sites in the UK linked to russia. We are introducing new restrictions on russian diplomatic visas, including limiting the length of stay for russian diplomats in the UK
He added that in response to such measures, Britain would invite "accusations of russophobia, conspiracy theories and hysteria from the russian government," but the British government "cannot be taken for a fool".
Our response will be decisive and firm. Our message to russia is clear: stop this illegal war, withdraw your troops from Ukraine, stop these malicious activities
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The UK has imposed several waves of sanctions against russian companies and individuals since russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, including stepping up counterintelligence measures. In particular, in April, a British man was charged with hostile state activities in favor of russia, including recruiting others to set fire to commercial real estate in London with ties to Ukraine.
Last week, NATO members said they were "deeply concerned" by the recent attacks attributed to russia that affected the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and the United Kingdom.
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