© Sputnik/Yulia Zyryanova/Pool via REUTERSDeputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council Medvedev gives an interview outside Moscow
Deputy Chairman of Russia's Security Council Dmitry Medvedev gives an interview at the Gorki state residence outside Moscow, Russia January 25, 2022. Picture taken January 25, 2022.
Russia will respond proportionately to the expulsion of its diplomats from a number of Western countries, Russian ex-president and deputy head of security council Dmitry Medvedev said late on Monday.
"Everyone knows the answer:
it will be symmetrical and destructive for bilateral relations," Medvedev said in a posting on his Telegram channel. "Who have they punished? First of all, themselves."
"If this continues, it will be fitting, as I wrote back on 26th February - to slam shut the door on Western embassies," Medvedev said. "It will be cheaper for everyone. And then we will end up just looking at each other in no other way than through gunsights."
Comment: RT
reports on Germany's expulsion of Russian diplomats:
Germany has reportedly declared 40 Russian diplomats "undesirable persons." They have five days to leave the country.
Berlin has decided to "declare a significant number of members of the Russian embassy unwanted persons who have worked here in Germany every day against our freedom, against the cohesion of our society," Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said on Monday. "We will not tolerate this any further."
If diplomats are pronounced unwanted persons, it means expulsion.
The decision was communicated to the Russian ambassador Sergey Netschayev in the afternoon, Baerbock announced.
The personnel have five days to leave Germany. According to local media reports, the Russian foreign-service employees are suspected of working for Moscow's intelligence services. German media outlets said that as many as 40 Russian diplomats are to leave the country.
"The pictures from Bucha testify to the incredible brutality of the Russian leadership, and those who follow its propaganda," Baerbock said as she explained the decision. She offered no evidence to support her assertion.
After the withdrawal of Russian troops from Bucha, hundreds of murdered civilians were discovered in that suburb of Kiev. Ukraine blames the massacre on Russian troops, who had occupied the small town until recently, but Moscow denies that. While Western politicians sided with Ukraine on the matter, the Pentagon said that it doesn't yet have independent evidence to back these claims.
Not only does the Ukraine and the West offer no proof, they're unable to provide a reasonable motive, because a number of those murdered were civilians, whom Russia has gone out of its way to protect (as evidenced by their white arm bands).
Even more revealing is Britain blocking Russia's request for a UN investigation into the massacre:
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reiterated the call today after a request for an emergency session was refused on Sunday as reports of mass graves emerged following the withdrawal of Russian troops.
"Russia today will again demand the convening of the UN security council in connection with the criminal provocations of the Ukrainian military and radicals in this city," she said.
The Russian Defence Ministry claimed that the massacre in Bucha "has been staged by the Kiev regime for Western media, as was the case with the [fake news from the] Mariupol maternity clinic."
Before moving on to the other expulsions, here are a few snippets of data making rounds about the Bucha false flag:
The truth about Bucha is out there, but perhaps too inconvenient to be discovered
RFE/RL
reports on the expulsions in France, Lithuania and Latvia:
Germany, France, Latvia, and Lithuania have announced the expulsion of dozens of Russian diplomats as part of a joint European reaction to the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, allegedly by Russian forces before they retreated.
The German government declared 40 Russian diplomats "undesirable," and France said it would expel 35 Russian diplomats, saying their activities were "against our security interests."
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called the move a response to the "unbelievable brutality" the Kremlin had unleashed in Ukraine.
The diplomats expelled from Germany have worked "against our freedom, against the cohesion of our society," Baerbock said. "We will not tolerate this any longer."
Berlin's decision was communicated to Russian Ambassador Sergei Nethayev after he was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, Baerbock said. The affected envoys have five days to leave Germany.
The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the expulsions from France were part of a European approach to the killings in Bucha, where dozens of bodies were found in mass graves or littering the streets over the weekend.
The Kremlin has rejected Western accusations that Russian forces were responsible.
Lithuania said earlier it had expelled Russia's ambassador to Vilnius and was recalling its top diplomat in Moscow in response to reports that Russian forces killed dozens of civilians in Bucha.
"Lithuania stands in full solidarity with Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, who are victims of Russia's unprecedented aggression. We are therefore lowering the level of Russia's diplomatic representation," Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said in a statement on April 4.
"Unfortunately, what the world saw in Bucha can be only the beginning. We will be able to discover even more evidences of cruel war crimes in other towns upon their liberation. The war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian armed forces in Ukraine will not be forgotten," he added.
Photographs showing the bodies of some of the dead civilians in Bucha, which lies on the northwest edge of Kyiv, with their hands bound have shocked many and prompted calls for stepped-up sanctions against Russia and the criminal prosecution of the perpetrators.
After Lithuania announced its move, Baltic neighbor Latvia said it was "reducing its diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation" in connection with Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the German government declared 40 Russian diplomats "undesirable persons."
The details of Latvia's move will be announced "once internal procedures are complete," Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics said.
UPDATE 5th April 11:16 CET: And now Denmark will expel 15 diplomats, although apparently over allegations of 'spying':
Denmark said Tuesday it is expelling 15 Russian "intelligence officers" registered as diplomats in the country following similar moves by a number of EU countries, including Germany and France.
The Russian citizens concerned will have 14 days to leave the country, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"We have established that the 15 expelled intelligence officers have conducted spying on Danish soil," Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod told reporters after a meeting in parliament.
Denmark wished to send a "clear signal" that spying in the Nordic country was "unacceptable," he said.
Russia's ambassador to Denmark was informed of the decision early Tuesday, where the government also expressed a "strong condemnation of Russia's brutality against Ukrainian civilians in Bucha".
"Deliberate attacks against civilians are a war crime," it said.
At the same time, Copenhagen insisted on maintaining diplomatic relations with Moscow.
"Denmark does not wish to break diplomatic relations to Moscow. The Russian ambassador and the rest of the embassy in Copenhagen are therefore not included in the expulsion," Kofod said.
But newly released satellite photographs taken by Maxar Technologies in mid-March, before the Russian withdrawal, showed what appeared to be bodies in some of the same places they were later found by Ukrainian troops and seen by journalists.
On Monday, France expelled 35 Russian diplomats, and Germany announced it had expelled a "significant number" of Russian envoys.
Also check out SOTT radio's:
NewsReal: Bucha False-Flag - Sanctions Gas Theater - BRICS Dismantling Dollar Domination
Comment: RT reports on Germany's expulsion of Russian diplomats: Not only does the Ukraine and the West offer no proof, they're unable to provide a reasonable motive, because a number of those murdered were civilians, whom Russia has gone out of its way to protect (as evidenced by their white arm bands).
Even more revealing is Britain blocking Russia's request for a UN investigation into the massacre: Before moving on to the other expulsions, here are a few snippets of data making rounds about the Bucha false flag: The truth about Bucha is out there, but perhaps too inconvenient to be discovered
RFE/RL reports on the expulsions in France, Lithuania and Latvia: UPDATE 5th April 11:16 CET: And now Denmark will expel 15 diplomats, although apparently over allegations of 'spying': Also check out SOTT radio's: NewsReal: Bucha False-Flag - Sanctions Gas Theater - BRICS Dismantling Dollar Domination