Russia expels Ukrainian consul detained for obtaining classified information
The Russian side informed Ukraine’s Charge D’Affaires Ad Interim Vasily Pokotilo about its decision to expel Ukrainian consul in St. Petersburg Alexander Sosonyuk detained by the Federal Security Service (FSB) for obtaining law-enforcers’ classified data, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Saturday. The Ukrainian diplomat must leave Russian territory by April 22, the ministry said.
"The Russian side pointed to the inadmissibility of such activity incompatible with the consular status and damaging the security interests of the Russian Federation. It stated that his stay on Russian territory was undesirable and recommended that he should leave it within 72 hours beginning from April 19," the statement says.
On April 16, the Federal Security Service apprehended a consul of the Ukrainian General Consulate in St. Petersburg upon receiving classified data from the databases of Russian law-enforcement agencies and the FSB.