{"id":68137,"date":"2024-05-17T15:00:07","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T20:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=68137"},"modified":"2024-05-17T15:00:07","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T20:00:07","slug":"russia-orders-uk-defense-attache-out-of-the-country-in-tit-for-tat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=68137","title":{"rendered":"Russia Orders UK Defense Attach\u00e9 Out Of The Country In Tit-For-Tat"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Russia Orders UK Defense Attach\u00e9 Out Of The Country In Tit-For-Tat<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/header>\n
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Russia has hit back at the UK’s latest diplomatic moves against Moscow, on Thursday\u00a0ordering the expulsion of the British defense attache from the country<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“The defense attach\u00e9 at the British Embassy in Moscow, A. T. Coghill, has been declared persona non grata. He must leave the territory of the Russian Federation within a week,” Russia’s foreign ministry said.<\/p>\n

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UK Embassy, Moscow, via TASS<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It follows the UK first expelling Moscow’s defense attache from British soil earlier this month as he was accused of\u00a0being\u00a0“an undeclared military intelligence officer.”<\/strong>\u00a0Russia blasted it as a lie, and its top diplomat overseeing military affairs was forced to leave.<\/p>\n

The Kremlin is now threatening further diplomatic escalation while complaining about London’s\u00a0“unfriendly,” “anti-Russian” and politically motivated recent actions.<\/p>\n

The British government has of late\u00a0quietly launched a pressure campaign on Russian diplomatic facilities\u00a0and personnel in the UK, with Interior Minister James Cleverly recently briefing parliament that multiple Russian-owned properties will be downgraded from having diplomatic status and protections.<\/p>\n

Cleverly alleged that Russian sites in Sussex as well as in London will see their diplomatic immunity removed. Cleverly\u00a0told parliament<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0“we believe have been used for intelligence purposes.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we\u00a0detailed this week<\/a>, British intelligence has gone so far as to accuse Putin of plotting\u00a0‘physical attacks’ on British soil and NATO sites<\/strong>.<\/p>\n