“Against the backdrop of Russia’s escalation of the security situation and massive anti-Ukrainian propaganda, the Russian side continues provocations against staff members of Ukrainian diplomatic missions in Russia. “We strongly protest against the April 16 illegal detention of a staff member of the Consulate General of Ukraine in Saint Petersburg, and the order for him to leave the territory of the Russian Federation until April 21. We absolutely reject the accusations made against the consular officer”, said its spokesman Oleg Nikolenko.

The spokesman noted that such actions had violated Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and Vienna Convention on Consular Relation and “yet again confirmed Russia’s following the course of escalation in relations with Ukraine”.

“In response to this provocation, a senior diplomat of the Russian Embassy in Kyiv has been ordered to leave the territory of Ukraine within 72 hours, starting April 19”.

Expulsion of the Russian diplomat comes as a retaliatory move after the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Ukrainian consul Oleksandr Sosoniuk in St. Petersburg on April 16, claiming he was allegedly trying to obtain from classified information. The Ukrainian diplomat was released after several hours in detention.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry called the act “yet another provocation against the backdrop of destabilizing actions of Russia”.

According to the deputy minister Yevhen Yenin, “Russians pretended they had not recognize the Ukrainian consulate diplomat Oleksandr Sosonyuk at the time of his detention on April 16 in St. Petersburg”.

“Yesterday we [Ukrainian diplomats] were literally faced with the assault of Russian law-enforcement agencies on our stuff member”.

The diplomatic disagreement over Oleksandr Sosonyuk comes amid growing tensions over Russia’s military build-up on the Ukrainian borders.