This is the shocking moment the British ambassador to Russia accuses Putin trolls of harassing him during a visit to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
In footage of the incident, you can hear how envoy Nigel Casey accuses the Russian men of ‘intimidation’ and a ‘gross violation’ of the rights of diplomats.
One of the men says to the ambassador: ‘We would like to invite you for a walk around Crimea, where your (British) missiles are being fired at civilians.’
Under international law, Crimea is Ukrainian territory, but it was annexed by Russia in 2014 and has been under Moscow’s control since then.
Since Putin’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles have been used by Kiev’s military against military targets in Crimea.
This is the shocking moment the British ambassador to Russia accuses Putin trolls of harassing him during a visit to the Urals city of Yekaterinburg
In the video, one of the men adds: “Please tell me… your colleague has previously recruited young people here to raise them as agents of influence and…”
Casey interrupts the man, speaking in Russian: “There’s no need for this kind of intimidation.”
The pro-Putin troll replies, “I’m not bothering you.”
But Casey tells him, “This is a gross violation of the Vienna Convention.”
The treaty regulates the rights of diplomats to work unhindered.
The ambassador – who arrived in Russia last year – was asked: ‘But you don’t want to walk around so quietly in Crimea, where you fire missiles at civilians, do you?
‘I’ll keep you company. Do not you want to?’
He was also scolded: ‘It’s just that you now walk so quietly on Russian soil after lunch. Lunch with the taste of the blood of Russian soldiers is well absorbed in Yekaterinburg.’
The video began with the men approaching Casey and what appears to be two of his associates as they walk through a snowy neighborhood, with tall apartment buildings in the background.
There are already a number of Russian men armed with cameras, suggesting that the ambush of the British ambassador was a pre-planned stunt.
Their interaction begins with one of the men greeting Casey as “old friend” before asking if he can ask him some questions. “No, thanks,” Casey replies.
In footage of the incident, you can hear how envoy Nigel Casey accuses the Russian men of ‘intimidation’ and a ‘gross violation’ of the rights of diplomats. The Russian troll is heard suggesting that the diplomat is ‘secretly’ in the region
Casey explained to the man who confronted him that he was in the Urals visiting the British Consulate while men with cameras filmed the interaction.
Casey told the man that the confrontation is “a gross violation of the Vienna Convention” – a treaty that governs the rights of diplomats to work unhindered
One of the men says to the ambassador: ‘We would like to invite you for a walk around Crimea, where your (British) missiles are being fired at civilians’
A number of Russian men were armed with cameras, suggesting the ambush of the British ambassador was a pre-planned stunt
He does not stop to talk to the men, but continues walking and explains that he is in the region to visit a British consulate there after the Russian man suggests he was visiting the region ‘in secret’.
At the end of the interaction, Casey is seen getting into a dark gray Range Rover with a red diplomatic license plate.
The men do not appear to refer to the fact that Russia is the aggressor in the war, having invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Russian missiles have hit numerous civilian locations, including homes, killing thousands of people.
Britain announced in May 2023 that it would supply the missiles to the Ukrainian military, and they have reportedly been used in a number of attacks since.
The missiles gave the Ukrainian military a significant boost in the conflict, as they are able to hit targets at much greater ranges than previously possible, including locations in Russian-occupied Crimea.
In September 2023, Storm Shadow missiles were used to bomb Russia’s main port in Sevastopol – the capital of Crimea – severely damaging a Russian submarine and the landing ship ‘Minsk’. According to some reports, the ship was destroyed.
Nine days later, another Storm Shadow missile struck Putin’s Black Sea headquarters in the same city, where Ukraine says a meeting of the top Russian navy was being held. Kiev said the attack killed 34 officers, including Russia’s Black Sea Fleet commander – a huge blow to Moscow’s armed forces.
When he took office in November, Casey said, “Few of the issues we currently face are more important than ending the human suffering caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”
Pictured: British Ambassador to Russia Nigel Casey is seen in Moscow, near the Kremlin
Zametki Volanda Telegram made the absurd and paranoid claim that Casey was in Yekaterinburg on a ‘preliminary reconnaissance’… to find new agents and set up a spy network under the auspices of the British Embassy in Moscow.
It was alleged: ‘He is fooling the Russian youth, giving them false hope and pushing them towards provocations and protests against the government.’
The British Embassy said: ‘The British Ambassador visited Yekaterinburg on a routine official visit to our Consulate General, which was communicated to local authorities in advance.
“Our diplomats have the right to do their work without being harassed.”