MI6 Head of the British Foreign Intelligence Service Richard Moore. File photoMOSCOW, July 22The head of the British foreign intelligence service MI6, Richard Moore, without any explanation, said that the 400 Russian diplomats expelled from European countries after February 24 constituted only half of all Russian intelligence officers under diplomatic cover, the Guardian newspaper reports. After the start of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, a number of European countries announced the mass expulsion of Russian diplomats.
"Across Europe, about half were expelled, at last count, more than 400 Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover. This probably cut their ability to conduct their espionage activities in Europe by half,” Moore said at a security conference in Aspen, USA.
The head of MI6 did not provide any evidence in favor of his calculations. He also did not explain whether the authorities of Britain or other European countries would take new measures against Russian diplomats. After the start of the military operation in Ukraine, Russia faced an unprecedented expulsion of Russian diplomats from countries of the West. The Russian Foreign Ministry every time declares the illegality of these actions and the right to retaliate — some foreign diplomats have also left Russia. Commenting on these events, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called them «staged by the United States» and suggested that «some of them feel embarrassed from participating in the performance.» Press Secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov, in turn, stated that the Kremlin regrets the expulsion of Russian diplomats from Europe. He called the actions of European countries a short-sighted step, since it is about narrowing the possibilities for diplomatic communication in crisis conditions. «: Boris Johnson left a political testament