Russia’s intelligence company accuses the second secretary on the British Embassy in Moscow of espionage.
Revealed On 30 Mar 2026
Russia’s Federal Safety Service (FSB) has ordered a British diplomat to go away the nation inside two weeks over allegations of financial espionage, which the UK rejected as “unacceptable” amid tensions over Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The FSB, the primary successor to the Soviet-era KGB, on Monday stated its counterintelligence officers had expelled Albertus Gerhardus Janse van Rensburg, the second secretary on the British Embassy in Moscow.
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“The FSB uncovered indicators that the diplomat was finishing up intelligence and subversive actions that threaten the safety of the Russian Federation,” the company stated.
It added that the diplomat had tried to “get hold of delicate info throughout casual conferences with Russian specialists within the subject of economics”.
“As a way to keep away from adverse penalties, together with prison legal responsibility, the FSB of Russia recommends that compatriots chorus from holding conferences with British diplomats,” it stated.
The Russian Ministry of International Affairs stated it had delivered a protest to Britain’s cost d’affaires over the alleged spy.
The British International Workplace responded by saying that Russia’s accusations towards its diplomats had been “fully unacceptable” and that it could not tolerate “intimidation” of its embassy employees or their households.
Russia-UK discord
Russia has claimed British intelligence launched espionage actions at a degree unseen for the reason that depths of the Chilly Battle to sow discord inside the nation, and it has lengthy complained that its personal diplomats are routinely harassed in key Western capitals.
The UK, which helps Ukraine with cash and weapons, sees Russia as its greatest speedy menace and accuses its intelligence of mounting cyberattacks, killings and sabotage campaigns throughout the Western world.
Since Russia launched its full-scale navy invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Russian authorities have sought to suppress opposition to the warfare whereas aiming to rally assist for the warfare amongst Russian residents.
Final week, Russia declared the trainer and primary protagonist of the Oscar-winning documentary Mr No person Towards Putin a “foreign agent“. Pavel Talankin spent two years documenting pro-war propaganda at a faculty within the Chelyabinsk area in west-central Russia whereas working as the varsity’s videographer.
