The number of Russian diplomats expelled from NATO countries has exceeded 1,000, the spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, announced.
"We send new ones, they send them back or they just don't give them a visa. I think there are already over a thousand," she said, Anadolu Agency reported.
Zakharova pointed out that sometimes diplomats are expelled by the dozen, "and considering that NATO has over 30 members, the numbers become large."
Moscow has found itself with much-reduced diplomatic staff across Europe since 2018, when the UK accused it of being behind the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, and called on its partners to show solidarity. The trend strengthened after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. /BGNES
