Spy claims against diplomat cast shadow over Anglo-Russian relations
March 11, 2013 4 Comments
By JOSEPH FITSANAKIS | intelNews.org |
Widespread allegations of espionage against Britain’s deputy ambassador to Russia threaten to derail the ongoing diplomatic rapprochement between Russia and the United Kingdom, according to a leading British newspaper. Painstaking efforts to rebuild Anglo-Russian relations, which crumbled after the 2006 assassination of Russian defector Alexander Litvinenko in London, are scheduled to culminate later this week, when senior Russian cabinet officials will be visiting London for a “strategic dialogue” with their British counterparts. But British newspaper The Sunday Telegraph reports that Whitehall is increasingly annoyed by persistent attacks in the Russian media against Denis Keefe, the UK’s deputy ambassador to Moscow. Keefe, a career diplomat with over 30 years in the Foreign Office, much of it during the Cold War, is a Cambridge University graduate who speaks six languages, including fluent Russian. Prior to arriving in Moscow, he served as British ambassador to Georgia, where he was stationed during the 2008 Russia-Georgia war. Almost as soon as he arrived in Russia, Keefe found himself at the center of persistent allegations in the Russian media that he is “an undercover spy, with his diplomatic position serving as a smokescreen”. Several Russian news reports have indirectly accused him of contacting dissident groups inside Russia in an effort to undermine the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Telegraph, which published for the first time an account of the Russian media claims in the West, said that Russian reporters appear to hound Keefe every time he makes a public appearance in the country. In one recent instance, two journalists asked him whether he was “a spy for MI6”, Britain’s primary external intelligence agency, insisting that he give a “straightforward answer to this question”. Keefe reportedly responded that this was “not a serious question” and had “nothing to do” with him. Read more of this post
intelNews.org 
Russia expels two UK diplomats, accuses London of sabotaging Trump peace plan
March 10, 2025 by Joseph Fitsanakis 3 Comments
According to the FSB, the two men “intentionally provided false information” to Russian authorities when they were granted official permission to enter the country, which made them ineligible for continued accreditation. Additionally, the FSB claims it has in its possession evidence that the two men have been “carrying out intelligence and subversive work” on Russian soil, which “threatens the security of the Russian Federation”.
In February of this year, the United Kingdom expelled a Russian diplomat in an apparent response to earlier expulsions of British diplomats by Russia, which occurred in November 2024. The rounds of diplomatic expulsions between London and Moscow go back to at least 2022, after Russia invaded eastern Ukraine for the second time. This week’s expulsions raise the number of British diplomats that have been expelled from Russia to seven.
Meanwhile Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), which carries out intelligence operations abroad, has accused Britain of being “the world’s biggest warmonger”. In a statement shared with reporters on Monday, the SVR claimed that London was actively sabotaging American efforts to “secure peace” in Ukraine by “undermining the peacekeeping efforts” of United States President Donald Trump.
In a statement issued on Monday, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said it was not the first time that Russia had leveled “malicious and baseless accusations” against its diplomats.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 10 March 2025 | Permalink
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with British embassy in Russia, diplomatic expulsions, FSB, News, Russia, SVR (Russia), UK