Russia-UK expulsions have targeted scores over past decades

Russia’s announcement of expelling six British diplomats for alleged espionage has been denounced by the United Kingdom. It has also intensified the animosity between Russia and the West over the war in Ukraine. However, the six are but a small number in the history of Moscow-London acts of expulsion, which have a history of angry bursts over the past decades. Both sides have expelled more than 20 at a time — and in one case, more than 100. The are frequently tit-for-tat moves, with one side retaliating for the act of the other, something Russian diplomatic language calls a “mirror answer.”