Recent revelations from the British newspaper, Daily Express, have unveiled a troubling sequence of harassment aimed at diplomats stationed in Moscow, allegedly orchestrated by Russian intelligence. According to detailed accounts, Icelandic diplomats faced persistent invasions of privacy, such as burglaries at their residences, deliberate acts of leaving windows open during harsh winters, and even the strategic placement of cigarette butts in noticeable locations. Perhaps most provocatively, a vegetarian diplomat discovered a steak intentionally placed inside her refrigerator, a gesture meant to distress and intimidate.
These calculated acts of harassment, according to international relations expert Professor David Dunn of the University of Birmingham, serve as a strategy designed to pressure foreign diplomatic missions into self-closure. By employing covert methods of intimidation, Russia avoids the diplomatic repercussions of formally expelling diplomats or explicitly closing embassies, effectively achieving their political objectives discreetly.
Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, Iceland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, confirmed these concerns, highlighting severe violations of privacy against embassy personnel. In her statement to Icelandic public broadcaster RUV, Gunnarsdottir emphasized the paramount importance of ensuring the safety of diplomatic staff. She explicitly pointed out Russia’s infringement of the Vienna Convention, which obligates host nations to guarantee security and respect the privacy of diplomatic missions and their staff.
Island became the first country to close its diplomatic representation in Moscow in 2023 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine initiated in February 2022. Initially justified by Icelandic authorities as a shift in diplomatic priorities, the latest disclosures make clear that persistent and strategic harassment by Russian intelligence agents played a critical role in this decision.
This disturbing pattern is not isolated. The British Foreign Office recently stated that Russia appears to be targeting the United Kingdom’s embassy in Moscow for similar ends. In response, Britain summoned the Russian ambassador in London and revoked accreditation from a Russian diplomat and his spouse, signaling a rising diplomatic tension and highlighting the increasingly hostile environment faced by Western diplomats in Russia.