Russia restricts the movement of British diplomats around the country

The Russian Foreign Ministry ordered British diplomats to notify the office about their trips around the country.

From now on, the zone of free movement of employees of diplomatic missions is limited to 120 kilometers. If they want to travel outside it, they will have to notify the Ministry of Foreign Affairs five days in advance, specifying the time, purpose, type and exact route of the trip.

Diplomats should also give other details: who they will contact, who will accompany them, what transport they will take and where they plan to stay overnight.

This requirement applies to the accredited staff of the British Embassy in Moscow, excluding the Ambassador, Minister-Counselor and Head of the Consular Section. Similar measures apply to all employees of the Consulate General in Yekaterinburg, with the exception of the Consul General.

The Foreign Ministry stressed that the decision was made in response to “hostile actions by London, including those hindering the normal functioning of Russian foreign missions in Great Britain”.

In the USSR there were restrictions on the movement of diplomats. Back then, the departures of foreigners were strictly controlled by the KGB.

On July 20, the charge d’affaires of the kingdom in Russia, Thomas Dodd, was summoned to the ministry and informed of the “inadmissibility of supporting the terrorist activities of the Kiev regime.”

During the day After the explosion of the Crimean bridge on July 17, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, accused the United Kingdom and the United States of decision-making about the attack. “The Kiev regime is terrorist and has all the hallmarks of an international organized crime group, and the leadership of this regime is exercised by Washington and London,” she wrote.

At the same time, Dmitry Polanski, First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations stated at a meeting of the UN Security Council that Russia intends to find out what role Western, i.e. British, intelligence services played in undermining the bridge. According to him, their commitment is “too conspicuous.”

British Foreign Office he called Moscow’s accusations “baseless speculation.” “We will not honor her with further comments,” the department added.

Russia’s accusations of London’s involvement in blowing up the Crimean bridge were commented on by Mr.lava of the British intelligence MI6 Richard Moore. “I am flattered that President Putin believes that my service is behind this. But in reality, everything is more prosaic. Britain has made it clear that it will help Ukraine defend itself. And that’s what we’re doing,” he said.