Russia's Foreign Ministry on Thursday declared two U.S. diplomats “persona non grata" and ordered them to leave the country within seven days as they were allegedly involved in “illegal activity.”
The ministry charged in a statement that the first secretary at the U.S. Embassy in Russia, Jeffrey Sillin, and the second secretary, David Bernstein, “kept in touch” with a former employee of the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok who was arrested earlier this year. The ex-employee was accused of collecting information for U.S. diplomats about Russia’s military action in Ukraine and related issues.
