Russia said Thursday (September 14) it was expelling two US diplomats it accused of working with a Russian national on charges of collaborating with a foreign state.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that it has summoned US Ambassador Lynne Tracy to urge her to send the embassy's First Secretary Jeffrey Sillin and Second Secretary David Bernstein back to the US within seven days.
The US embassy in Moscow has confirmed the expulsions, Reuters reported. There was no immediate comment from the US State Department in Washington.
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Embassy Staff Involved in 'Illegal Activity,' Russian Officials Say
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Sillin and Bernstein "conducted illegal activity" and "[maintained] contact" with a certain Robert Shonov, who was accused of "'confidential cooperation' with a foreign state."
Shonov was employed by the US Consulate General in the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok for over 25 years until Russia ordered the dismissal of the local staff in the US mission there.
The Russian state news agency TASS also quoted Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) after it published a video back in August showing a purported confession by Shonov that named the two US embassy staff, who in turn, asked him to collect information about Russia's war effort in Ukraine, its annexation of "new territories," its military mobilization, and the 2024 presidential election.
The video also claimed Shonov was told to gather "negative" information on the topics, to look for signs of popular protest, and to reflect them in his reports.
In its statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Shonov had been paid to complete tasks aimed at damaging Russia's national security.
"It was also emphasized (to Tracy) that illegal activities of the U.S. diplomatic mission, including interference in the internal affairs of the host country, are unacceptable and will be resolutely suppressed," the statement added. "The Russian side expects Washington to draw the right conclusions and refrain from confrontational steps."
Washington Accuses Moscow of Harassing US Embassy Officials
Meanwhile, the US accused Russia of attempting to intimidate and harass US employees after Russian state media reported the charges against Shonov and said the FSB planned to inquire embassy employees who had been in touch with him.
The US State Department added in May, when Shonov was arrested, that the case highlighted Russia's "blatant use of increasingly repressive laws" against its own citizens, adding that the allegations against Shonov were "wholly without merit."
Relations between Washington and Moscow plunged to their worst point for more than 60 years because of the war in Ukraine as the US has been one of the major providers of advanced weaponry to Ukraine. It has also sanctioned Russia and several individual Russians in response to the latter's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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