Russia has called the new restrictions imposed by Britain on all those working for the Russian state in the UK “madness“. Under the new rules, these individuals will have to register with a “foreign influence“ monitoring system, or face penalties including imprisonment, reported Agence France-Presse, quoted by BTA.
“The new rules are truly insane“, commented Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the social network “Telegram“, denouncing the “intellectual poverty that has gripped the British ruling class“.
Zakharova added that “the heirs of great British representatives from past eras, soldiers who fought against Nazism, are now digging in the mud, hysterically searching for links with Russia“.
Under the new system, any person who “carries out activities within the framework of an agreement“ with Russian state authorities will have to register with the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme. This instrument, presented as a means of combating foreign influence, will put Russia under special surveillance.
In practice, London will require everyone associated with "Russian state structures, including the president, parliament, ministries and agencies, as well as intelligence services", to declare this if they carry out activities on British soil.
These rules will apply not only to individuals associated with the armed forces, police and judiciary of Russia, but also to people associated with "several political parties controlled by Russia", including "United Russia" - the party of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Relations between Russia and Britain, which were tense even before the conflict in Ukraine, have become even more strained in the past three years, as London is one of the main military and financial supporters of Kiev, AFP points out.