United Kingdom summons Russian ambassador over ‘malign activity’

Britain on Thursday said it had summoned the Russian ambassador in the UK to express its deep concern at what it called Moscow’s “pattern of malign activity”.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said that included “cyber intrusions, interference in democratic processes, and the build-up of military forces near the Ukrainian border and in illegally annexed Crimea”.

It came on the same day the United States announced sanctions and the expulsion of 10 Russian diplomats in retaliation for what Washington says was the Kremlin’s US election interference, a massive cyber attack and other hostile activity.