The second secretary of the political department of the UK Embassy, Wilkes Edward Pryor, carried out intelligence and subversive work that threatened Russia's security, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Tuesday.
The Russian FSB said in a statement that it had "uncovered an undeclared UK intelligence presence under cover of the national embassy in Moscow during counterintelligence work."
"Edward Pryor, the second secretary of the political department of the UK Embassy in Moscow, Wilkes, who was sent to Moscow through the Directorate of Eastern Europe and Central Asia of the UK Foreign Office and who replaced one of the six UK intelligence officers expelled from Russia in August as a cover, intentionally provided false information when receiving permission to enter our country, thereby violating Russian law," the statement read.
At the same time, the Russian FSB has identified signs that he is conducting intelligence and subversive work that threatens Russia’s security, the statement said.
British Ambassador to Moscow Nigel Casey received a note of protest in connection of false information provided by the diplomatic mission’s senior official Wilkes Pryor upon his entry to Russia, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
"On November 26, the British Ambassador to Moscow, Nigel Casey, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, who received a note of protest in connection with the information that the second secretary of the British Embassy, Wilkes Pryor, deliberately stated false information about himself as he was seeking a permission to enter our country," the statement from the ministry reads.
"At the same time, Russia’s relevant services gained data confirming that the [diplomatic] officer at the issue worked for the United Kingdom’s secret intelligence services. The data also points to signs of his intelligence and subversive work on the territory of our country," the ministry added.
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Британского дипломата лишили аккредитации в РФ за ложные данные при въезде. В его работе выявлены признаки разведдеятельности, сообщили в ФСБ.
ReplyDeleteThe British Foreign Office has slammed Russia’s accusations against a British diplomat as groundless and warned about response measures.
ReplyDelete"This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff. We will respond in due course," the Sky News television channel quoted a Foreign Office spokesperson as saying.
Later, a spokesman for the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also said that London refutes these allegations. "They are baseless. We are now considering our response," the spokesperson said, adding the response would come "in due course."