Russia announced the expulsion of a British diplomat on Monday, accusing him of conducting espionage activities—claims that London swiftly dismissed as “completely false.” Over the past decade, both Moscow and London have expelled several embassy staff members, exchanging accusations of spying and sabotage. Typically, when one side takes such action, the other responds in kind.
The individual expelled is identified as 29-year-old embassy secretary Albertus Gerhardus Janse Van Rensburg. Russian authorities say he was expelled for engaging in “subversive intelligence operations that threaten Russia’s security.” The FSB security agency stated, “A decision was made to revoke Janse Van Rensburg’s accreditation, and he was ordered to leave Russia within two weeks.”
The Russian Foreign Ministry has summoned Britain’s chargé d’affaires to discuss the incident and warned the UK against retaliating. Britain responded by accusing Russia of engaging in an “aggressive and coordinated harassment campaign.” A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign Office dismissed the accusations as “complete nonsense,” criticizing Russia for “pumping out malicious and entirely unfounded allegations” about British diplomats.
Relations between the UK and Russia are already strained over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and espionage allegations have historically worsened tensions. In 2006, former FSB officer and Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned with polonium in London, an act British investigators allege was carried out by the Russian secret service. Later, in 2018, the UK accused Russia of poisoning double agent Sergei Skripal with a Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, leading to one civilian death from a discarded perfume bottle containing the toxin. This incident prompted one of the largest expulsions of Russian diplomats in Western history, who were suspected of being spies.