Three U.S. Embassy staff in Russia face deportation over property theft allegations

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The United States Embassy and the national flag are seen in Moscow, Russia on Tuesday, May 11, 2021. Under orders from the Kremlin, the United States Embassy ceased employing Russians, leaving the men to Russian business, lovers and exchange students adrift because they cannot get visas and American parents unable to register their newborns as citizens. (Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP)

MOSCOW – Russia on Friday accused three U.S. embassy workers of theft and demanded they leave the country or face prosecution, further exacerbating already strained relations.

The Russian Foreign Ministry accused the three staff members of stealing the personal effects of a Russian citizen. No details of the alleged incident were provided.

The ministry demanded that their diplomatic immunity from prosecution be immediately lifted so that they can be brought to justice, otherwise they must leave the country immediately.

The past few months have seen a constant and increasing drumbeat in Moscow’s rhetoric, as officials amplify the sense of a Western threat to Russia.

Russian news agency Tass said the alleged theft took place on September 18 and reported that the Interior Ministry estimated the value of the stolen items to be just over $ 200.

Independent media outlet Chtd reported that the allegation against three members of the administrative and technical staff of the embassy is linked to the taking of a backpack from a man in a cafe in central Moscow.

Moscow’s move on Friday comes days after NATO expelled eight Russian diplomats, accusing them of espionage.

It also follows Russia’s anger over a call from a group of US senators on Tuesday for the expulsion of 300 Russian diplomats. Russian officials have said that if this proposal is implemented, Russia will force the closure of the US embassy in Moscow.

The row is the latest in a series of incidents with Russia irritated by US sanctions against seven Russian officials in March for its August 2020 poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was jailed in February on charges he says he is political.

Among those blacklisted by the US Treasury were Andrei Yarin, the head of the Kremlins’ domestic policy directorate; Alexander Bortnikov, director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) or internal intelligence service; and Deputy Defense Ministers Alexei Krivoruchko and Pavel Popov.

In April, Washington expelled 10 Russian diplomats and imposed new sanctions on several dozen Russian individuals and businesses, claiming they were associated with malicious Russian activity.

In response, Moscow advised US Ambassador John Sullivan to return home to Washington for consultations and recalled its own Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov.

Sullivan resisted the initial recommendation to quit Yuri Usakov, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy advisers, but flew away shortly after.

As part of its tit-for-tat response, Russia also banned eight former and current officials from entering Russia and banned the US embassy from hiring Russian or third-country nationals. The move saw the U.S. Embassy’s visa section slow down its visa issuance due to what it called staff shortages.

The two ambassadors resumed their duties in June, after relations improved slightly following a meeting this month between President Biden and Putin in Helsinki.

Relations remain icy, however, as talks are underway on areas where there appears to be potential for cooperation on issues such as strategic arms limitation and climate change.

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