Russia declares Ukrainian diplomat persona non grata

"In response to a similar unfriendly and unmotivated move by Kyiv, the Russian side was forced to declare an employee of the Consulate General of Ukraine in St. Petersburg persona non grata on a reciprocal basis," the ministry said.

On August 13, Ukraine's SBU Security Service said it had exposed in Lviv region a local resident who was collecting intelligence for the Russian special services and passed it to a Russian intelligence officer who "worked" under the diplomatic cover of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Lviv.

The SBU said that "for activities incompatible with the status of a consular officer, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry declared a spy diplomat persona non grata."

"He has already left the territory of Ukraine," the SBU said.

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