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Foreign Secretary Davil Miliband has warned Russia over ”intimidation.” St.Petersburg office director Stephen Kinnock was waylaid by Russian security forces, the British Council local employees were called in by the FSB security service and some of them were visited by Interior Ministry officials. The British Council in Russia has been accused of violating tax rules. The general climate between the two countries has worsened dramatically after the death of former KGB offices Litvinenko in London last year. Martin Davidson, Chief Executive of the British Council says in an official statement that “I am bitterly disappointed that the Russian authorities have sought to limit our cultural and educational links at the very time when they can be of most value.”
He now informs that “We have suspended our operations in St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg following a significant worsening of the situation in Russia for the British Council.”