Russia’s foreign ministry expelled two employees at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow on Thursday, accusing them of maintaining contact with a former U.S. consulate employee who was charged with illegally collecting information about the war in Ukraine and passing it to American diplomats—the latest blow to U.S.-Russian relations.
The U.S.-Russia relationship has hit new lows since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.
The embassy’s First Secretary Jeffrey Sillin and Second Secretary David Bernstein were expelled after Russia said they “conducted illegal activities” by maintaining contact with Robert Shonov, who has been accused of “confidential collaboration.”
U.S. Ambassador to Russia Lynne Tracy was notified that Sillin and Bernstein had been declared persona non grata—meaning they were no longer welcome in the host country—and must leave Russia within seven days.
Russia’s Federal Security Service published a video in August in which Shonov ostensibly said Sillin and Bernstein requested information about Russia’s war effort in Ukraine, Russia’s annexation of “new territories,” its military mobilization and the 2024 presidential election, according to Reuters.
The Federal Security Service said last month that it had summoned two U.S. diplomats for questioning for their contact with Shonov, though the diplomats were not identified, according to the Associated Press.
The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.
Shonov, a Russian national who was employed by the U.S. Consulate General in Vladivostok, Russia, for over 25 years, was arrested in May by the Federal Security Service. Shonov was charged in August with illegally collecting information about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and passing it to American officials, a claim both Shonov and the State Department have denied. Shonov had worked “in strict compliance with Russia’s laws and regulations,” the State Department said, after Shonov was contracted to provide services to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow in 2021. The State Department noted that Shonov began his work as a private contractor after the Russian government ordered the termination of all Russian staff at U.S. diplomatic missions in the country in April 2021.
Russia Expels 2 U.S. Diplomats, Accusing Them Of ‘Illegal Activity’ (Associated Press)
Russia Charges Former U.S. Consulate Worker With Collecting Information About Ukraine War (New York Times)