Britain has expelled a top Russian envoy and imposed new restrictions on the country’s diplomats, in one of the highest-profile responses yet to what allied officials describe as a coordinated spy campaign to weaken support for Ukraine.
Home Secretary James Cleverly announced the actions in Parliament on Wednesday, saying Britain would deport the Russian defense attache on the grounds that he was an undeclared spy. He said it would also limit the amount of time the country’s diplomats can spend in Britain, and some of Russia’s properties – including the defense department in London’s Highgate area and a 19th-century country house south of the capital – would be stripped of diplomatic protection. .
The actions come in response to a suspected arson of Ukraine-linked properties in east London and other espionage activity in Britain and Europe, Cleverly said.
