Not sure if anyone is tracking the number of Russian intelligence officers who have been declared persona non grata recently, so I'll go ahead and start a thread. Colombia PNG'd two Russian officials earlier this month for recruiting agents in

The two Russian officers, Alexander Paristov and Alexander Belousov, reportedly worked for the SVR and GRU, respectively, and were interested in "Colombia’s energy industry and mineral commodities". 2/
Last week, Bulgaria PNG'd a Russian military attaché "seeking sensitive military information, including on the number of U.S. troops deployed in Bulgaria during military drills". He was the 6th Russian official expelled by Bulgaria since October 2019. 3/
https://t.co/5Sq9IyNJRq
That attaché was "Colonel Vasiliy Sazanovich, who had allegedly been coordinating Russia’s military intelligence spy network in Bulgaria." (@alexrblackwell) 4/
https://t.co/XnTZ2vrWri
The Netherlands PNG'd two Russian officers, including an SVR officer, earlier this month who were seeking info "about artificial intelligence, semiconductors and nanotechnology. Many of these technologies have both civilian and military applications.” 5/
https://t.co/lr4WuQ5gCm
Austria PNG'd a Russian official back in August reportedly for economic espionage "for years the Russian had engaged in spying on an Austrian high-tech company with the support of an Austrian working at the firm." 6/
https://t.co/tak4R9rHHI
Notably, Austria convicted a former colonel in June for passing on "secret information about the Austrian military’s weapons systems and artillery positions between the years 1992 and 2018, in exchange for about €280,000 (£250,000)." 7/
https://t.co/FTfLwd4EFt
Norway expelled a Russian official in August, possibly the same officer who was caught meeting with a Norwegian national who was arrested for espionage and "led a joint industry project on 3D printing" at a Norwegian company. 8/
https://t.co/gDEzYNGzmo
The Czech government expelled two Russian officials in June who were reportedly involved in infighting in the embassy "with one of them sending made-up information to our (counterintelligence service) about a planned attack on Czech politicians" 9/
https://t.co/3zB98hYs6N
Slovakia expelled 3 Russian officials in August for espionage and visa abuse. The Slovakian PM Igor Matovic said, "The Russians are our Slavic brothers, and Russia is our trading partner. But Slovakia is a sovereign state, not a banana republic.” 10/
https://t.co/fBL9cBBGXU
Greece expelled two Russian embassy officials and banned another two from entering the country in 2018 for attempting to foment opposition to Macedonia's name change, which paved the way for NATO membership. 11/
https://t.co/e382K6yfIc
https://t.co/MwKPdsWq31
Germany PNG'd two Russian officials in December 2019 in response to the murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili in Berlin's Tiergarten park. 12/
https://t.co/C9IqyVuMWW
https://t.co/IaqwjDhaaF
In response to the Skripal poisoning, more than 150 Russian officials were expelled in 2018 by at least 29 countries as well as NATO, including 60 from the US (12 from New York and 48 from DC). 13/
https://t.co/Kipu0QR9Mv
https://t.co/AQxRvqa8Pp
In May 2019, Sweden refused to renew a visa for a Russian official and "declined Russian applications for diplomatic visas" after arresting a Swedish man "on suspicion of spying and of having been recruited as an agent by a Russian intelligence officer"14/
https://t.co/8kj9CKBYCP
Russia expelled a Polish diplomat in April 2019 in response to Russia's deputy consul in Poznan being expelled that year by Poland. 15/
https://t.co/CWTkIKMtoq
In August 2019, Ukraine PNG'd a Russian official from the consulate in Lviv for recruiting a man who collected information on political figures, Ukrainian military units, law enforcement and intelligence agencies, and foreign military instructors. 16/
https://t.co/w4yi4uqdMR
16 Russian intelligence officers have been declared persona non grata in 2020:
-Colombia: 2
-Bulgaria: 5 (a 6th in October 2019)
-the Netherlands: 2
-Austria: 1
-Norway: 1
-Czechia: 2
-Slovakia: 3
17/
https://t.co/9OYEiV8PNV
We could also see some further expulsions regarding the French lieutenant-colonel who was arrested in August and is suspected of spying on behalf of Russia while working at a NATO facility in Italy. 18/
https://t.co/bRZt8Eo1kV
https://t.co/bAF5FEOJ5E

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