Russia accuses U.S diplomats of regularly trying to access restricted military areas

Record ID: 1437261

  • Title: Russia accuses U.S diplomats of regularly trying to access restricted military areas
  • Date: 17th October 2019
  • Summary: MOSCOW, RUSSIA (OCTOBER 17, 2019) (REUTERS) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN MARIA ZAKHAROVA ARRIVES AT MEDIA BRIEFING MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN MARIA ZAKHAROVA, SAYING: "American military attaches regularly try to enter closed areas of our boundless motherland and completely ignore notification requirements. The question - why it happens - remains unanswered." BRIEFING IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) RUSSIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN MARIA ZAKHAROVA, SAYING: "They did request a permission from the Russian defence ministry and did receive, as it should be, a permission for a trip to Arkhangelsk, to Arkhangelsk only, nowhere further or sideways. Instead they took a rental car with Russian number plates - which is also curious - and arrived in Severodvinsk where they took a train to a residential area which has military grounds nearby as well as other defence facilities." MEDIA
  • Embargoed: 31st October 2019 13:07
  • Keywords: Zakharova Russian foreign ministry U.S. diplomats Arkhangelsk Severodvinsk Russian military nuclear accident
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVA001B1HKUO3
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova complained on Thursday (October 17) that U.S. military diplomats regularly ignored Russia notification requirements and tried to get into restricted military areas.
    Russia said on Thursday it would issue a formal note of protest to the United States after police caught three U.S. diplomats in what it said was a restricted area near a closed military testing site.
    The diplomats were stopped by police after they arrived by train on Monday and were sent back, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Though protected by diplomatic immunity, they are accused of breaking the law as they did not have the special permits foreigners needed to visit the area.
    The area where they were intercepted is of heightened interest to Western intelligence agencies after a mysterious military accident took place there in August. The incident saw radiation levels briefly spike and killed at least five employees of Russia's Rosatom state nuclear corporation.
    (Production: Anton Derbenev, Alexander Reshetnikov, Dmitry Turlyun)
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