The UK has acted decisively in its growing diplomatic dispute with Russia by ordering a senior Russian diplomat accused of being an “undeclared” military intelligence officer to be expelled. Announcing the action, Home Secretary James Cleverly said that several Russian diplomatic facilities would be closed within the country, also referring to the strong response as a pattern of “malign activity” by Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, across Europe.
Cleverly told Parliament that the retaliatory measures are meant to send a clear message to Russia: “We will not tolerate such apparent escalations.” The decision comes amid accusations of the FSB’s hacking and leaking sensitive trade documents related to the United States and targeting British lawmakers with malicious email campaigns.
This intensified diplomatic pressure deepened Monday when the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador to Moscow for remarks by British Foreign Secretary David Cameron over Ukraine hitting Russian territory with British-supplied weapons.
In the same line of development, the Russian trade delegation offices in Highgate, described by the UK authorities as a “den of spies,” have also had their diplomatic status removed. The defense attaché’s most-deserted office has been the subject of heavy surveillance with many CCTV cameras around it. Locals said there was minimum activity in recent months, with the premises appearing abandoned except perhaps for a caretaker.
The Order has also announced the revocation of the diplomatic immunity of Seacox Heath, a 19th-century Gothic castle in Sussex. Since 1947, Russian diplomats have been using the estate, which has become the fount of espionage operations. The Home Office statements have blamed the Kremlin for utilizing the castle and its large grounds to structure the basis for plotting espionage activity against Britain. The expulsion of a military intelligence officer, Colonel Maxim Elovik, illustrates how seriously these allegations are being taken.
Stripping Seacox Heath of its diplomatic status has drastic repercussions. It paves the wave for the UK government to confiscate the property, with an estimated value of £20 million, and may use it to compensate the victims of the war in Ukraine by Vladimir Putin. In Ukraine, where there is a lodged caution against the manor, they also have a chance to get a share of the sale money.
Villagers, however, have had long-held suspicions about what goes on around Seacox Heath, branded by some as “the Little Kremlin.” After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, locals protested by planting Ukrainian flags and scrawling pro-Ukraine graffiti near the entrance. There were also reports of surveillance drones flying over their nearby villages.
The expulsion of Colonel Elovik and the closure of Russian diplomatic premises is part of the bigger plan to disrupt the apparatus used by Russian intelligence to spy on the UK. The Home Secretary reiterated that the UK would not tolerate such moves by Russia, just like every reaction from Moscow was being closely watched by the government.
Powerful backing for the measures came from Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, who said that Russian interference and hostile activities will not be tolerated. Former Conservative minister Rehman Chishti called for legislation to seize Russian assets and leave Putin without the money to fund the rebuilding of Ukraine.
But as much as the UK is responding to Russian provocations, the expulsion of the defense attaché and the closure of key diplomatic facilities remain an extraordinary moment in the ongoing geopolitical conflict.