Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Yevgeniy Yenin said that the country will expel senior diplomat Chernikov from the Russian embassy in Kiev as a response to the expulsion of the Ukrainian consul from the Russian Federation. He announced this on Sunday, April 18, on the air of the Ukraine 24 TV channel.
“The senior diplomat is one of the advisers of the Russian Embassy in Kiev. There is a specific person. His surname is Chernikov. The corresponding note will be sent to the Russian embassy tomorrow morning (April 19 – Ed.), ”He said.
On April 17, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry announced that the senior diplomat of the Russian Embassy in Kiev must leave the territory of Ukraine within 72 hours from April 19. At that time, the Russian Embassy in Kiev said that they had not yet received documents on the expulsion of the senior diplomat.
It was reported that the decision was made in response to the expulsion of the Ukrainian consul Alexander Sosonyuk from Russia. The Ukrainian ministry clarified that they consider Russia’s actions “a gross violation of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963”.
Prior to that, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of Sosonyuk, who was caught red-handed by the FSB while receiving confidential information from a Russian citizen in St. Petersburg. In this regard, the consul was ordered to leave Russia within 72 hours starting from April 19, the Foreign Ministry said.
The arrest of the Ukrainian consul became known on the morning of April 17. According to the FSB, he was caught red-handed while receiving classified information from a Russian citizen. The special service indicated that measures would be taken against the diplomat in accordance with the norms of international law.