Russian diplomats caught in restricted area of UK parliament
Diplomats from the Russian Federation briefly entered the restricted zone of the British Parliament in December 2024 during a public tour, reports "The Guardian". Sources for the newspaper suspect they wanted to "crow to the Kremlin".
According to "The Guardian", the incident occurred during a public tour of the British Parliament building, which was attended by a small group of diplomats from the Russian embassy.
At a certain point, the Russians interrupted the tour and entered the restricted-access areas of the House of Lords. Security personnel discovered them there and escorted them out.
"We suspect they were just wanting to crow to the Kremlin that they had infiltrated the British parliament. It’s not ideal but they were caught before any damage was done," a source in the British Parliament told "The Guardian".
Parliamentarians received a warning
Following the incident, parliamentarians and their staff received a written warning from the leaders of both Houses advising them not to invite Russian diplomats to the Parliament.
"As the formally accredited representative of the Russian government, the Russian ambassador should not be welcomed on to the parliamentary estate until further notice. This applies to all other Russian diplomats and officials at the Russian embassy accredited to the UK," it stated.
