British ambassador to Russia summoned to MFA over embassy spy allegations

British Ambassador to Russia, Nigel Casey, was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry, as confirmed by the ministry’s official spokesperson, Maria Zakharova.

Casey arrived at the Russian Foreign Ministry following the summoning, which was linked to the intelligence activities of a British embassy employee, Caliber.Az reports via Russian media.

Earlier in the day, the Public Relations Centre (PRC) of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that Edward Pryor Wilkes, the second secretary of the British Embassy’s political department in Moscow, had his accreditation revoked for providing false information upon entry into the country.

The FSB indicated that Pryor’s actions bore signs of involvement in intelligence subversion. The Russian Foreign Ministry has ordered Pryor to leave Russia within two weeks.

"It has been reliably established that Edward Pryor Wilkes, the second secretary of the political department at the British Embassy in Moscow, who was sent to Russia through the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Directorate of the British Foreign Office, deliberately provided false information when obtaining a permit to enter the country, thereby violating Russian law," the PRC reported. "Wilkes, who replaced one of the six British intelligence officers expelled from Russia in August, has also been linked to signs of intelligence and subversive activities that pose a threat to the security of the Russian Federation."

"Based on this, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, in collaboration with relevant agencies, has decided to revoke Wilkes’s accreditation, and he has been ordered to leave Russia within two weeks," the FSB emphasized.

The PRC further noted that counterintelligence efforts uncovered an undeclared presence of UK intelligence personnel operating under the guise of the British Embassy in Moscow.

"The FSB of Russia will continue its efforts to counterintelligence and subversive activities by foreign intelligence services using all available methods," the Russian security service stated.

The FSB further noted that it had received documents demonstrating London’s coordination of efforts aimed at "escalating the international military-political situation." These materials point to the Directorate of Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the British Foreign Ministry as the primary unit responsible for subversive activities directed at Russia.

Additionally, the FSB stressed that after the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS), this Directorate was transformed into a special service with the strategic goal of inflicting a defeat on Russia.

The FSB also stated its intent to continue efforts to seek the early termination of the secondments of British diplomats found to be engaged in subversive activities against the Russian Federation.

By Tamilla Hasanova