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LONDON: The UK has expelled a Russian diplomat and a diplomatic spouse in response to an "increasingly aggressive and co-ordinated campaign of harassment" against British officials in Moscow, according to PA Media/dpa.

The move is a tit-for-tat retaliation to a similar move by Russian President Vladimir Putin's government earlier this week.

The Foreign Office said it had summoned Russian ambassador Andrei Kelin to  make clear "the UK will not stand for intimidation of British embassy staff and their families."

A spokesman claimed the Russian state was "actively seeking to drive the British embassy in Moscow towards closure" with its actions.

Russia expelled one British diplomat and the spouse of another, accusing them of spying.

The pair were accused of engaging in intelligence activity under cover of the embassy in Moscow. They have been ordered to leave the country within two weeks, the Russian news agency TASS said on Monday, citing the country’s FSB security agency.