Russia expels two US diplomats for links to 'spy'
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Two US embassy staff members are being expelled for allegedly “liaising” with Robert Shonov, a former US consulate worker accused by Moscow of spying.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MOSCOW - Russia on Thursday said it was expelling two US embassy staff for “liaising” with Robert Shonov, a former US consulate worker accused by Moscow of spying.
Shonov, who worked for the US consulate in Vladivostok, was charged with passing information about the conflict in Ukraine to American diplomats, a claim the US has rejected.
Russia’s foreign ministry said the two US diplomats – Jeff Sillin and David Bernstein – conducted “illegal activities by liaising with a Russian citizen, (Robert) Shonov”.
“The US ambassador was told that Sillin and Bernstein must leave the territory of Russia within seven days under the status of persona non grata,” it said.
The US State Department said the expulsion of the two diplomats was unprovoked and warned that Washington would respond appropriately.
“This unprovoked expulsion of our diplomatic personnel is wholly without merit, as is the case against a former Russian contractor of our embassy,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
“Yet again, Russia has chosen confrontation and escalation over constructive diplomatic engagement. It continues to harass employees of our embassy, just as it continues to intimidate its own citizens. We regret that Russia has taken this path and you can certainly expect that we will respond appropriately to their actions.”
Shonov was employed by the US Consulate General in the eastern Russian city of Vladivostok for more than 25 years until Russia in 2021 ordered the dismissal of the US mission’s local staff.
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) published a video in August showing a purported confession by Shonov in which he said Sillin and Bernstein had asked him to collect information about Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, its annexation of “new territories”, its military mobilisation and the 2024 presidential election.
In the video, Shonov said he was told to gather “negative” information on these topics, to look for signs of popular protest and to reflect these in his reports.
Washington accused Moscow of attempting to intimidate and harass US employees after Russian state media reported the charges against Shonov and said the FSB planned to question embassy employees who had been in touch with him.
When he was arrested in May, the State Department said the case highlighted Russia’s “blatant use of increasingly repressive laws” against its own citizens. It said the allegations against Shonov were “wholly without merit”.
In its statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Shonov had been paid to complete tasks aimed at damaging Russia’s national security.
“It was also emphasised (to Tracy) that illegal activities of the US diplomatic mission, including interference in the internal affairs of the host country, are unacceptable and will be resolutely suppressed,” it said.
“The Russian side expects Washington to draw the right conclusions and refrain from confrontational steps.”
Relations between Russia and the United States have been deteriorating for years, and both sides have expelled diplomatic staff.
The United States strongly condemned Shonov’s arrest in May, saying Russia was using “increasingly repressive laws against its own citizens”. AFP, REUTERS
