Russia expels British military attaché in tit-for-tat response

Colonel Elovik (right) with Russian Ambassador Andrei Kelin during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Soviet War Memorial in London earlier this month Photo: Press -Russian Foreign Ministry/AP

Russia has made it clear that it will respond in kind to the expulsion, believed to be the first since 2018, when Theresa May expelled 23 Russian diplomats over the poisoning of a double agent. Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Colonel Elovik was in the UK for more than ten years and often attended events related to Russian military interests. Last June, he attended a special reception to mark Russia Day at the Russian Ambassador's residence in Kensington Palace Gardens.

In November, Captain Coghill, the British military attaché, attended a military funeral service in Murmansk with his military attaché. . An American colleague paid tribute to fallen Commonwealth fighters.

Grant Shapps, the defense secretary, called the ouster of Captain Coghill a “desperate move.”

“While the Russian prosecutor in Britain was acting as spies, the only problem Putin’s relationship with ours was that they represented Ukraine’s unwavering support for the UK,” Mr Shapps said.