Russia Arrests Ukrainian Consul... "Deportation Decision for Spy Activities"

[Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Russian security authorities have arrested a Ukrainian consul on charges of espionage. Ukraine has also decided to retaliate by expelling Russian diplomats, raising military tensions between the two sides.

According to foreign media including the AP on the 17th (local time), the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that it had arrested Oleksandr Sosoniuk, the Ukrainian consul stationed in Saint Petersburg. The FSB explained that Sosoniuk engaged in espionage activities by receiving confidential information such as databases from judicial authorities including the FSB from a Russian citizen the day before, but did not disclose further details. The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "We have decided to expel Sosoniuk," adding, "He must leave Russia by the 22nd."

Ukraine also expressed its intention to respond to Russia's expulsion of the consul. Oleg Nikolenko, spokesperson for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, "Sosoniuk has been released from detention and is within the reach of Ukrainian diplomatic authority," and added, "We are preparing a response." The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had ordered a senior Russian diplomat to leave the country but did not disclose the identity of the Russian diplomat.

The tension between the two countries, which are confronting each other in the eastern border area of Ukraine, is expected to escalate further. Currently, the so-called Donbas region around Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine is where pro-Russian residents have declared independence from Ukraine and are continuing sporadic clashes with support from Russia. It is estimated that about 13,000 people have died in this conflict since Russia's forced annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in March 2014.

Recently, clashes between separatist rebels and the Ukrainian government forces in Donbas have intensified, and with Russian troops reinforcing forces near the border close to Ukraine, concerns about the outbreak of full-scale war are also growing.