Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on May 16 that it summoned a representative of the British Embassy in Moscow to inform them that the United Kingdom's defense attache, A. T. Coghill, had been declared persona non grata and must leave the country within a week. The ministry said the move was a response to a British decision on May 8 to expel Russia's defense attache. British Interior Minister James Cleverly said at the time that London's move was made in response to Moscow's "malign activity."
