Russia’s defence attache is an “undeclared military intelligence officer” who will be expelled from the UK amid an escalation of sanctions, the home secretary said on Wednesday.
James Cleverly announced the closure of several Russian diplomatic premises in the Commons and told MPs the moves followed a pattern of “malign activity” across Britain and Europe.
The announcement came after senior Conservatives called for further sanctions against Putin’s aides and allies, saying they were failing to hamper its economy or the activity of its agents.
In April, a British man was charged over alleged hostile state activity intended to benefit Russia, including by allegedly recruiting others for an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked commercial property in London.
Cleverly told the Commons: “Today, in conjunction with the foreign secretary, I am announcing a package of measures to make clear to Russia that we will not tolerate such apparent escalations.
“I can tell the house that we will expel the Russian defence attache, who is an undeclared military intelligence officer. We will remove diplomatic premises status from several Russian-owned properties in the UK, including Seacox Heath house, a Russian-owned property in Sussex, and the trade and defence section in Highgate, which we believe have been used for intelligence purposes.
“We are imposing new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas, including capping the length of time Russian diplomats can spend in the UK.”
Moscow will make accusations of Russophobia and spread conspiracy theories in response, James Cleverly said. “In the coming days we should expect accusations of Russophobia, conspiracy theories and hysteria from the Russian government. This is not new and the British people and the British government will not fall for it, and will not be taken for fools by Putin’s bots, trolls and lackeys.”
Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said Labour supported the measures against Russia and would maintain support for Ukraine.
“Russia under Putin is a long-term generational threat to the security of Europe, which requires a long-term response and, as the shadow defence secretary said just yesterday, the defence of the UK starts in Ukraine.
“These challenges are also to our homeland security, and that is why we support wholeheartedly the measures the home secretary has set out today, just as we worked on a cross-party basis with the government to pass the National Security Act and we will work closely with them in going further,” she said.
The government passed sanctions on six men in February who were accused of running the “brutal prison camp” where the Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny died.
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Col Vadim Konstantinovich Kalinin, head of the “Polar Wolf” penal colony in the Arctic Circle, was the most senior to have UK assets frozen.
The head of the UK’s Treasury select committee has warned that western sanctions against Russia were failing to hamper its economy.
Harriett Baldwin, Conservative chair of the committee, told the Financial Times last month: “There’s a general consensus that sanctions are not working in terms of their stated intent – causing real trouble for the Russian economy … The IMF are forecasting it’s going to be one of the strongest economies this year.
She added: “The really serious thing is that the money is going into their defence budget … to be used attacking Ukrainians.”