News - Middle East: Moscow has vowed to give an “appropriate response” to Britain’s expelling Russia’s defense attaché.

On Wednesday, Home Secretary James Cleverly told Parliament that London would declare Russia’s defense attaché persona non grata over alleged espionage, calling the Russian official “an undeclared military intelligence officer.”
He also said the British government would remove diplomatic status from some Russian properties in the UK that London believed have been used to purported gather intelligence.
Cleverly said London would also impose limit the length of visas granted to Russian diplomats, saying all measure would be adopted in response to Moscow’s alleged “malign activity.”
Later in the day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would certainly retaliate against London’s decision in expelling Russian attaché through an “appropriate response.”
In April, a British man was charged, among others, over allegedly recruiting others for an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked commercial property in London, which claims that the citizen’s hostile state activity intended to benefit Russia.
Zakharova said British allegations of Moscow’s involvement in the arson attack were “absurd” and part of an information war.