MOSCOW (AP) – Russia has ordered a Ukrainian diplomat to leave the country after receiving classified information from a database of the country’s main security agency, and Ukraine has responded by expelling a Russian diplomat.
Alexander Sosonyuk, the Ukrainian consul in St. Petersburg, was detained on Friday while meeting with a Russian in which he obtained materials from a database of the Federal Security Service, according to the agency.
On Saturday, Russia’s foreign ministry informed business manager Vasily Pokotilo that Sosonyuk must leave the country by Thursday. No details of the contents of the classified material have been made public.
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry later said it had ordered a senior diplomat to leave, but did not identify the person.
The expulsions come amid escalating tensions over Russia’s military buildup along the border with Ukraine’s eastern rebel-held region of Ukraine.
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This story has been corrected to show that the expulsion of the Ukrainian consul was announced by the Foreign Ministry, not by the Foreign Minister.