NATO expels eight ‘intelligence officers’ from Russian mission
Al Jazeera
Expulsion follows report that Russian spies linked to fatal explosions in Czech Republic in 2014 also implicated in the Skripal poisoning.
NATO has expelled eight members of Russia’s mission to the alliance it said were “undeclared Russian intelligence officers”, a NATO official said, in a further deterioration of ties between western countries and Russia reminiscent of the Cold War.
The expulsion of the Russians was reported earlier by Britain’s Sky News, which said Moscow’s mission to the alliance headquarters in Brussels would be halved “in response to suspected malign Russian activities, including killings and espionage”.
NATO said on Wednesday that it had withdrawn the accreditation of eight members of the Russian mission and reduced to 10 the number of positions Moscow is able to accredit to NATO.
