In a significant diplomatic escalation, Russian authorities have declared a British embassy official persona non grata, ordering their expulsion from the country within a two-week timeframe. The Federal Security Service (FSB) asserted that the individual had been operating as an undeclared intelligence operative for the United Kingdom, though no substantiating evidence was presented to support these claims.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry formally summoned the UK’s charge d’affaires in Moscow, Danae Dholakia, to deliver the expulsion notice. In an official statement, the Ministry delivered a stern warning: ‘Moscow will not tolerate the covert activities of British intelligence officers on Russian soil.’ The statement further indicated that any retaliatory measures from London would be met with a ‘symmetrical response.’
This incident marks the latest chapter in the rapidly deteriorating relationship between Russia and Western nations. The diplomatic climate has reached its most frigid state since the Cold War era, largely triggered by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. This pattern of mutual diplomatic expulsions has become increasingly commonplace. Notably, in March 2025, Moscow ousted two British diplomats based on similar espionage allegations, which the UK government at the time dismissed as ‘completely unfounded and deliberately malicious.’
As of Thursday, the British government had not issued an official response to the latest expulsion, leaving the diplomatic community awaiting London’s next move in this ongoing confrontation.