Russia Declares 2 Employees of US Embassy Personae Non Gratae

 Russia declared two employees of the embassy of the United States in Moscow personae non gratae on Thursday, and they have to leave the country within seven days, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, US ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy was summoned to the ministry on Thursday to receive a strong demarche over actions of Jeffrey Sillin and David Bernstein, the first and the second secretaries of the embassy, which are “incompatible with the diplomatic status.” 

“These persons [Sillin and Berstein] carried out illegal activities by maintaining contact with Russian citizen [Robert] Shonov, accused of ‘confidential cooperation’ with a foreign state. [Shonov] was given tasks with the goal of harming the national security of the Russian Federation for financial compensation. The US ambassador was informed that J. Sillin and D. Bernstein must leave Russian territory within 7 days in the status of persona non grata,” the ministry said.

The ministry added that actions of the US diplomatic mission, including interference in Russia’s internal affairs, were “unacceptable.”

“The Russian side expects Washington to draw the right conclusions and refrain from confrontational steps,” the ministry said.