Friday, January 16, 2026 - Russia has announced that a British diplomat is being expelled after the Federal Security Service (FSB) accused him of working as an undercover agent for British intelligence. The diplomat has been given two weeks to leave the country.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned Britain’s chargé
d’affaires in Moscow to lodge a formal protest, saying Moscow “would not
tolerate the activities of undeclared British intelligence officers in Russia,”
and warned that any escalation from London would prompt a “mirror response”.
The FSB identified the diplomat as 45-year-old Davis Gareth
Samuel, who it claimed was operating under diplomatic cover as a second
secretary in the administrative section of the British Embassy in Moscow. The
agency said his accreditation was revoked in line with the Vienna Convention.
Since 2024, Russia has expelled at least nine British
diplomats on espionage-related allegations. The UK government has repeatedly
rejected such claims and has vowed to “respond appropriately”.
British authorities had not issued an immediate response to
the latest expulsion at the time of reporting. The Moscow Times said it
contacted the British Embassy for comment.
Relations between London and Moscow have been strained for
years, deteriorating further after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in
2022. Previous tensions included espionage disputes and the 2018 poisoning of
former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Britain.
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