Russia Expelled British Military Attaché Adrian Coghill

(Patria) - Russia yesterday expelled the British military attaché Adrian Coghill and gave him two weeks to leave the country, media reported.

This move by Moscow is a response to London expelling the Russian attaché for defense earlier this month, due to espionage accusations.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that a representative of the British Embassy was summoned for an informational briefing to be informed of a "strong protest regarding the hostile and unfounded decision" to expel the Russian attaché from London.

"We emphasized that we consider this step a politically motivated action of a clearly Russophobic nature, which causes irreparable damage to bilateral relations," the statement added.

On May 8, Great Britain announced several measures to disrupt Russian intelligence gathering operations in the United Kingdom, including the expulsion of a Russian colonel, whom the British government called an "undeclared military intelligence officer".

Other measures include revoking diplomatic status for several Russian-owned properties, as they are believed to have been used for intelligence purposes, and new restrictions have been imposed on Russian diplomatic visas and visits.

The British government stated that these measures followed criminal cases in London related to espionage and sabotage by individuals acting on behalf of Russia.

Allegations are also cited that the Russian government planned to sabotage military aid to Ukraine in Germany and Poland and spied in Bulgaria and Italy, along with cyber disinformation activities, airspace violations, and GPS signal jamming to disrupt civilian air traffic.