The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation obliged British diplomats to notify about long-distance trips

Russia on Thursday imposed restrictions on British diplomats, who were required to notify them of any plans to travel “outside the 120-kilometer free movement zone.” At the same time, notifications must be made no less than five working days in advance.

Reuters calls these changes “Soviet-style restrictions.” The agency notes that British diplomats will be put in the toughest conditions they have faced in Moscow since Soviet times. At that time, the trips of foreigners were strictly limited and strictly controlled by the KGB.

The website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia mentions the introduction of a notification procedure for the movement of employees of British diplomatic missions on Russian territory. On July 20, the temporary chargé d’affaires of Great Britain in Russia, Thomas Dodd, was summoned to the ministry. In Moscow, they emphasize that the decision was taken in response to “hostile actions by London, including those that impede the normal functioning of Russian foreign institutions in Great Britain.”

The notification regime will affect employees of the British Embassy in Moscow and the Consulate General in Yekaterinburg. In the notification of departure outside the “120-kilometer zone” they will be obliged to indicate information about the duration of the trip, its purpose, such as the route, planned business contacts and accompanying persons, as well as about the types of transport, places of accommodation and visits. Exceptions are provided for the ambassador, adviser-envoy and head of the consular department and consul general, RBC notes.

The British Embassy in Moscow declined to comment.

Ever since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022, the West has sent tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Kyiv and introduced several packages of tough economic sanctions. Great Britain is considered one of the leaders of the coordinated international response to the Russian invasion, which Moscow calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine. In addition, London is one of the leading Western suppliers of weapons that are sent to Ukraine to help repel Russian aggression.

Russia considers Great Britain and the United States to be countries that support Ukraine in its bid to split Russia and seize its natural resources. All these statements are denied by Washington and London. Recently, the Russian authorities accused the British special services of involvement in the attack on the Crimean bridge on the night of July 17. The British authorities called this statement “groundless speculation”.