Russia expels 2 American diplomats on suspicion of espionage: the US promised to respond

Russia expelled two American diplomats/Collage Channel 24

On September 14, the Russian Foreign Ministry declared two American diplomats persona non grata. We are talking about two secretaries of the American embassy in the aggressor country.

Russian media report this. Moscow suspects these people of allegedly collecting secret data, reports24 Channel.

Russia is expelling US diplomats

To The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the aggressor country noted that this decision concerns the First Secretary of the US Embassy in Moscow, Jeffrey Sillin, and the Second Secretary, David Bernstein.

The occupiers emphasized that these individuals allegedly carried out “illegal activities” by maintaining contact with Russian citizen Robert Shonov, accused of “confidential cooperation” with a foreign state. The Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that this man was supposedly given tasks for financial compensation that were intended to “harm the national security of Russia.”

The Russian Ministry announced this decision to US Ambassador to Russia Lynn Tracy. Diplomats Sillin and Bernstein were ordered to leave Russian territory within seven days.

It should be noted that two American diplomats appear in the investigation of the Russian Federal Security Service against the former employee of the US Consulate General in Vladivostok, Robert Shonov, who was detained in August 2023.

Russian intelligence officials claim that since September 2022, Shonov allegedly participated in collecting intelligence information about a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as well as mobilization measures in the aggressor country.

Next, the FSB published a video of the “interrogation” in which Shonov’s alleged confession was recorded. According to the video, Shonov allegedly admitted that he carried out his actions on the instructions of Sillin and Bernstein, whom he calls employees of the political department of the US Embassy. In response to this revelation, Russian authorities expressed their intention to interrogate the above-mentioned individuals.

The United States responded to Russia's daring actions

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller commented at his briefing on Russia's decision to expel two American diplomats from Russia. He emphasized that he would not leave these steps unanswered.

We regret that Russia has taken this path. And you can certainly expect that we will respond appropriately to their actions,” the speaker said.

In addition, the State Department strongly condemned the Kremlin's recent actions to declare American diplomats in Moscow persona non grata, calling them unprovoked and without any legal basis.

The department is convinced that Russia is persistently harassing US embassy personnel using tactics similar to their own citizens. A State Department representative noted that the aggressor country has chosen a confrontational and escalatory approach rather than a constructive diplomatic dialogue.

Russian diplomats are being kicked out from everywhere

• In Moldova, 45 employees of the Russian embassy were kicked out due to a diplomatic scandal. They are suspected of spying on the Moldovan authorities and trying to destabilize the situation within the country.
• Before this, 40 employees of the Russian Embassy were expelled from Romania. The country emphasized that this decision reflects the current level of bilateral relations, in the context of Russia's unleashing of an aggressive war against Ukraine.
• In addition, for many years, the Russians have been creating their agent networks in the capital of the European Union – Brussels. How exactly this process took place – read the material.