U.S. diplomats have been harassed by Russian officials for years, the State Department confirmed in a press briefing Monday.
“Over the past two years, harassment and surveillance of our diplomatic personnel in Moscow by security personnel and traffic police have increased significantly,” said Elizabeth Trudeau, director of the State Department’s Office of Press Relations.
The harassment, which was first reported in anonymous memos, started in 2014 after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia in response to their military intervention in Ukraine. American personnel felt intimidated and as if they were being watched even and their own homes.
Former ambassador Michael McFaul told the Washington Post he and his family were regularly followed by Russian intelligence services.
“It was part of a way to put pressure on government officials who were trying to do their reporting jobs,” said McFaul. “We were feeling embattled out there in the embassy.”
According to the report, diplomats would often find their tires slashed or their homes broken into. On several occasions, diplomats would return home to find Russian agents had rearranged their furniture, or turn on all the lights and televisions before leaving. According to one diplomat, a Russian officer went so far as to defecate on his carpet.
During the day, traffic police would systematically harass American diplomats, and Russian agents would follow their children to school.
Secretary of State John Kerry asked Putin directly to make the intimidation games stop during a meeting in March. Putin did not make any commitment to making the harassment stop.
“The deterioration of U.S.-Russia relations, which was not caused by us, but rather by the current Administrations’ policy of sanctions and attempts to isolate Russian, had a negative affect on the functioning of diplomatic missions, both in U.S. and Russia,” said a statement issued by a spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Washington. “In diplomatic practice there is always the principle of reciprocity and, indeed, for the last couple of years our diplomatic staff in the United States has been facing certain problems. The Russian side has never acted proactively to negatively affect U.S. diplomats in any way.”
The State Department has taken its own measures to help its diplomats feel more secure. his includes training on how to handle Russian harassment and regular meetings to track and respond to future harassment.
Some politicians are concerned that the U.S. government is not doing enough to address diplomats’ concerns.
“The problem is there have been no consequences for Russia, said Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, was quoted as saying by the Post. “The administration continues to pursue a false narrative that Russia can be our partner. They clearly don’t want to be our partner, they’ve identified us as an adversary, and we need to prepare for that type of relationship.”
