Vladimir Putin boots British diplomat out of Russia – 'He is a SPY'

Russia has booted out a British diplomat after accusing him of acting as a spy, the country’s foreign ministry has said. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday morning that it had received information "regarding the affiliation of a diplomatic employee at the embassy with the British secret service". The ministry summoned British charge d’affaires, Danae Dholakia, to lodge a "strong protest" and inform her that the diplomat was being expelled, according to a post on its Telegram channel. As Ms Dholakia got into her car to leave the ministry, she was booed by a crowd of Moscow residents "who had come to express their dissatisfaction with British policy", RIA Novosti reports. The ministry said the diplomat, whom they did not identify by name, has been stripped of his accreditation and ordered to leave Russia within two weeks. It warned it would not "tolerate the activities of undeclared British intelligence officers in Russia", adding Moscow would "respond decisively in kind" if London "escalates the situation". Both Russia and the UK have periodically expelled each other's diplomats from the country since the start of the war in Ukraine . It comes as Russia expelled two British diplomats on suspicion of espionage in March last year. The pair were accused by Russia's FSB security service of "intelligence and subversive activities that threaten Russia's security", according to state media. They were at the time reported to be a man and a woman, aged 34 and 32 years old respectively. The British embassy in Moscow at the time dismissed the allegations, according to Russian media. "This is not the first time that the Russian authorities have made unfounded and malicious allegations against our employees," an embassy official was quoted as saying by RBC news outlet. "We will respond accordingly." The UK Foreign Office also said: "This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff." On Wednesday, the Mirror reported that Sergey Karaganov, head of Russia ’s Council for Foreign and Defense Policy, said that if Russia is defeated in Ukraine , Vladimir Putin "would use nuclear weapons and Europe would be finished physically". He also criticised his own government for being "too patient" with Europe. Speaking to right-wing American commentator Tucker Carlson, he added: "I am criticising my government of being too prudent and too patient with them... But sooner or later, if they continue to support this war, sacrificing numerous of the Ukrainians and others... We’ll have to punish them severely."

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