Russian Diplomats Expelled From Over 20 Countries

People walk in front of St. Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin on Red Square in Moscow on March 16, 2018.
Russia will vote for President on March 18. / AFP PHOTO / Mladen ANTONOV

AFP

People walk in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin on Red Square in Moscow on March 16, 2018. Russia will vote for President on March 18. / AFP PHOTO / Mladen ANTONOV

Connor Fries, News Editor

Countries around the world have been expelling Russian diplomats due to an attack on ex-Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, who were murdered with a nerve agent used on them in the United Kingdom. Following the attack, the U.K. was led to believe that Russian President, Vladimir Putin, had ordered the killing, due to past events of former Russian agents who were enemies of Putin, who mysteriously died on British soil. Russia has continuously denied the accusations of any attacks on British soil.

Following the accusations, multiple countries, including the U.K. have been withdrawing Russian diplomats. The U.K. has expelled 23 diplomats, while the U.S. has expelled 60. So far, Denmark, Finland, France, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Italy, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Australia, Albania, Canada, Macedonia, Moldova, Norway, and the Ukraine have also expelled Russian diplomats from their countries.

Russia has promised retaliation against both the U.S. and the U.K. Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov stated, “We are to analyze the situation following the declared decisions by a number of countries to expel our diplomats. The main analysis will be done by our Foreign Ministry. After that the president will see proposals for taking retaliatory steps. A final decision will be made by the head of state”