MOSCOW: Russia expelled 23 British diplomats on Saturday in a carefully calibrated retaliatory move against London, which has accused the Kremlin of orchestrating a nerve toxin attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter in southern England.
Escalating a crisis in relations, Russia said it was also shutting down the activities of the British Council, which fosters cultural links between the two countries, and Britain鈥檚 Consulate in St. Petersburg.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said it was giving the 23 British diplomats one week to leave the country.
The move, which was tougher than expected, followed Britain鈥檚 decision on Wednesday to expel 23 Russian diplomats over the attack in the English city of Salisbury which left former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia Skripal, 33, critically ill in hospital.
Moscow announced the measures on the eve of a presidential election which incumbent Vladimir Putin should comfortably win. Putin has cast his country as a fortress besieged by hostile Western powers with him as its defender, and state media is likely to portray the anti-British move in that context.
The Foreign Ministry said Moscow鈥檚 measures were a response to what it called Britain鈥檚 鈥減rovocative actions and groundless accusations.鈥� It warned London it stood ready to take further measures in the event of more 鈥渦nfriendly steps.鈥�
Relations between London and Moscow have crashed to a post-Cold War low over the Salisbury attack, the first known offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since World War Two.
The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador, Laurie Bristow, to a meeting on Saturday morning in central Moscow at its Stalin-era headquarters during which he was informed of the retaliatory measures.
Bristow told reporters afterwards that Britain had only expelled the Russian diplomats after Moscow had failed to explain how the nerve toxin had got to Salisbury.
鈥淲e will always do what is necessary to defend ourselves,鈥� the ambassador told reporters.
Britain鈥檚 Foreign Ministry said it had anticipated Russia鈥檚 response and the National Security Council would meet early next week to consider next steps.
鈥淥ur priority today is looking after our staff in Russia and assisting those that will return to the UK,鈥� it said in a statement.
鈥淩ussia鈥檚 response doesn鈥檛 change the facts of the matter 鈥� the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian state was culpable.鈥�
Russia鈥檚 response was more robust than expected. The closure of the British Council鈥檚 Moscow office will sever cultural ties, while that of the consulate-general in St. Petersburg will end Britain鈥檚 diplomatic presence in Russia鈥檚 second city.
Russian news agencies cited politicians in Russia鈥檚 upper house of Parliament as welcoming the move to close the British Council, alleging it had been used as a cover by British spies.
British lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, said the move to close the organization鈥檚 office would hurt the Russian people.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a great shame for the Russian people that they鈥檙e closing the British Council which has done an awful lot to educate Russian people in the English language and to help them get jobs and opportunities around the world,鈥� he told the BBC.
Amid calls from British politicians across the spectrum to take further action against Russia, former British ambassador to Russia, Sir Roderic Lyne, told the BBC that Britain should avoid getting dragged into a prolonged showdown with Russia.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it would be sensible to get dragged down into a mud wrestling battle with a gorilla,鈥� Lyne said.
Russia has complained that Britain has failed to provide any evidence of its involvement in the Salisbury attack and has said it is shocked and bemused by the allegations.
Britain has escalated a war of words with Russia over the incident in recent days. On Friday, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said it was overwhelmingly likely that Putin himself had made the decision to use a military-grade nerve toxin to strike down Skripal.