Russia has confirmed that its ambassador to the United Kingdom left London last month and that no successor has been put forward, leaving the embassy under the control of a chargé d’affaires.
Andrei Kelin, who had held the post since November 2019, left Britain on July 21, according to The Times, which first reported the departure on August 23. His name no longer appears on the diplomatic list published by the embassy.
The list of senior diplomatic staff now names only Vasily Tsyganov, the chargé d’affaires. An embassy spokesman said Kelin had worked to preserve channels of communication while accusing the British Government of choosing a “path of confrontation”.
The spokesman said Kelin had left in the hope that a more constructive dialogue could be restored should Britain reconsider its policies. The embassy later said nothing in those comments implied Moscow intended to downgrade relations.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “This is a matter for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.” It added that Britain retained an ambassador and an embassy in Moscow and would continue to stand with Ukraine.
The move follows a sharp deterioration in relations. On August 17 the embassy warned that London’s actions would carry consequences after The Times reported that British-made drones had been used for long-range strikes inside Russia for the first time.
Defence ministry sources later confirmed those reports were accurate. Britain said in June it would supply Ukraine with 150,000 drones by the end of the year as part of a £752 million (€876 million) package, according to Reuters.
John Foreman, a former British defence attaché in Moscow, said gaps between ambassadors were not unusual. He pointed to “the huge deterioration of bilateral relations since 2018” and questioned whether Moscow would leave the post vacant permanently.
The vacancy comes as European governments harden their response to Russian activity below the threshold of open war, with Berlin approving a sweeping expansion of its intelligence services on August 12.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s Government has shown no sign of scaling back military support since taking office in July. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced 19 new sanctions designations against Russia on August 6, and British ambassador Nigel Casey remains in post in Moscow.
