Russia announced on Thursday that it is expelling the British defense attaché, following Britain’s expulsion of the Russian defense attaché the previous week.
The Russian Foreign Ministry stated it had summoned a British embassy representative to convey this decision.
On May 8, Britain ordered the expulsion of the Russian defense attaché, accusing him of being an undeclared military intelligence officer.
Moscow responded, calling the expulsion a “politically motivated action with a clearly expressed Russophobic character, which deals irreparable damage to bilateral relations.”
The British diplomat, Adrian Coghill, has been given one week to leave Russia. Moscow warned that this was not the end of their response and that further retaliatory measures against Britain would follow.
Even before the Ukraine war, relations between Russia and Britain were strained and have only deteriorated further since the conflict began.
Britain has been instrumental in rallying support for Ukraine and providing it with military assistance.
In addition to expelling the Russian defense attaché, Britain announced last week that it was revoking the diplomatic status of several Russian-linked personnel and imposing new visa restrictions.
These measures aim to limit the duration Russian diplomats can stay in Britain.