US diplomats are ‘intimidated’ in Moscow

JOHN KERRY, the US secretary of state, has complained personally to Russian president Vladimir Putin over a campaign of intimidation against US diplomats in Moscow, the US State Department has said.

The complaints follow two years of low-level harassment directed at US diplomats and their families that is believed to include frequent traffic police checks, following diplomatic staff around the city, and even breaking into their homes. “Over the past two years, harassment and surveillance of our diplomatic personnel in Moscow by security personnel and traffic police have increased significantly,” said Elizabeth Trudeau, a spokeswoman for the US State Department. “We see an increase and we take it seriously.”

Mr Kerry raised the issue with the Russian president in March, she said.

Ms Trudeau was commenting on a report in The Washington Post that said some diplomats said intruders had broken into their homes at night to rearrange furniture, turn on lights and even defecate on a living-room carpet. Staff at the US embassy confirmed to

The Daily Telegraph that low level intimidation had noticeably increased over the past two years.

Russia rejected the accusations yesterday, instead accusing the United States of restricting Russian diplomats. The Russian foreign ministry said there had been a “significant increase in pressure on the Russian embassy and consulates general of our country in the United States”.