Russia has accused two Brits of spying (Image: Getty)
Two British nationals have been expelled from Russia after being accused of spying.
The pair – a British diplomat and the spouse of another - were accused of engaging in intelligence activity under cover of the embassy in Moscow.
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They have been ordered to leave the country within two weeks, the Russian news agency Tass said, citing the country's FSB security agency.
A spokesperson for the U.K.’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “This is not the first time that Russia has made malicious and baseless accusations against our staff.”
It comes just days after counter-terrorism police accused six Bulgarian nationals of spying on “an almost industrial scale” for Vladimir Putin.
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A Bulgarian spy ring was exposed in London (Image: AP)
The "Indiana Jones cave" of spymaster Orlin Roussev (Image: PA)
Bulgarians Katrin Ivanova, 33, Vanya Gaberova, 30, and Tihomir Ivanov Ivanchev, 39, were found guilty at the Old Bailey last week of spying on an "industrial scale", putting lives and national security at risk.
They will be sentenced in May alongside ringleader Orlin Roussev, 47, his second-in-command Biser Dzhambazov, 43, and Ivan Stoyanov, 33, who admitted their roles.
Russia’s FSB said: "The Federal Security Service's counter-intelligence operations exposed the unreported intelligence presence of the United Kingdom under the cover of the country's embassy in Moscow”
It added: “The Federal Security Service’s counter-intelligence operations exposed the unreported intelligence presence of the United Kingdom under the cover of the country’s embassy in Moscow.”
The Kremlin said a man, 34, and woman, 32, “will be stripped of their accreditation and must leave Russia within two weeks.”
It is the latest in a series of tit-for-tat expulsions involving the UK's embassy in Moscow and the Russian mission in London.
In February the Foreign Office stripped a Russian diplomat of their accreditation, with David Lammy saying the UK will be "unapologetic" in standing up to Mr Putin.
That move was in response to what the Foreign Office said was a "baseless" decision to expel a British diplomat from Russia on suspicion of spying in November last year.
The expulsion also comes after a major criminal investigation left six members of a Russian proxy spy ring dubbed the "Minions" facing years behind bars for their part in one of the "largest and most complex" enemy operations to be uncovered on UK soil.
Counter-terrorism police and MI5 were able to smash the network – controlled by one of Europe’s most wanted men - Jan Marsalek - from Moscow – after Roussev kept tens of thousands of messages containing instructions, targets, surveillance logs and extraordinary amounts of detail about their plots.
This “treasure trove” led to the convictions of Ivanova, 33, Gaberova, 30, and Ivanchev, 39.
Commander Dominic Murphy, Head of the Met's Counter Terrorism Command, warned it is a “clear example” of Moscow “contracting” out its intelligence gathering to proxies and criminals, adding: “We will see more of that”.
He also revealed more than one in five counter-terrorism investigations are now linked to hostile states trying to wreak havoc in Britain.
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Commander Murphy said: “Years ago, this would have been Russian agents on soil, directly working for a Russian intelligence agency.
“Instead what you have got is these activities being contracted out to individuals like this group.”
He added of the threat Russian intelligence services pose: “This is well organised, well-structured and poses a significant threat.
“We have to meet that demand.
“They are becoming much more aggressive and intrusive about how they carry out their activity in the UK.
“We have seen a significant change in the way they operate, mostly trying to use criminal proxies and groups like this to carry out their role for them rather than doing it directly.
“This is one of those clear examples of outsourcing and I think we will see more of that.”
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Former Wirecard chief Marsalek, who ran the network for at least eight years, acted as a go-between for Russian intelligence and ringleader Roussev, 47, in Great Yarmouth who received more than 200,000 euros (over ￡165,600) to fund the spying activities.
He deployed the Minions with second-in-command Dzhambazov who was in a love triangle with two of the team - his partner Ivanova and beautician Gaberova, jurors heard.
The spies were ordered to carry out surveillance of an American military base in Germany, which they believed was being used for training Ukrainian troops on Patriot missiles following Russia’s invasion.