Photo:Will Stewart
Air Force attache Carl Scott is caught
on camera holding up his identity card after he and colleague Assistant
Naval Attache Ryan Coatalen-Hodgson were pulled in at a checkpoint in
North Ossetia, in the Caucasus
Two British diplomats in Russia 'caught spying' on airbase ...accused of illegally watching Mozdok military airportAir Force attache Carl Scott flagged down with Assistant Naval Attache Ryan Coatalen-Hodgson
Allegedly used 'special photo and video recording equipment'
read more after the cut .....
This is the moment two British diplomats were flagged down in Russia to be accused of filming a military air base.
The pair, based at the British Embassy
in Moscow, were named as Air Force attache Carl Scott and Assistant
Naval Attache Ryan Coatalen-Hodgson.
Moscow sought to maximise the incident
by releasing footage of 'police' tailing their official car, and images
of the defence attaches' identity cards after they were pulled in at a
checkpoint.
Russia announced on Tuesday that it had
'caught' the pair 'illegally' snooping on Mozdok military airport' in
North Ossetia, in the Caucasus.
They were accused of 'secret
observation' and using 'special photo and video recording equipment',
according to an FSB secret service source.
Dashcam footage, from early March,
shows what is described as a police vehicle as it trails a British
diplomatic car with the 001 registration assigned to the United Kingdom
in Russia.
The Cold War-style sequence shows the
tailing operation for several miles through the North Ossetian
countryside, before road traffic policemen wave the diplomats to stop
at a checkpoint.
Dashcam footage shows what is described as a police vehicle as it trails a British diplomatic car
Russia
announced on Tuesday that it had 'caught' the pair 'illegally'
snooping on Mozdok military airport' in North Ossetia, in the Caucasus
Footage
shows Russian authorities tailing the pair for several miles through
the North Ossetian countryside, before road traffic policemen wave the
diplomats to stop at a checkpoint
Photo:Will Stewart
The pair entered the region - close to Chechnya - without 'appropriate permission', it was claimed
Here the diplomats were made to show their diplomatic identity cards and Scott held up his driving license.
The British officials refused to show
the Russians what if anything they had filmed at the airfield, citing
diplomatic immunity, said Moscow reports .
The footage was shown by pro-Kremlin
news site LifeNews which boasted the video showed Russia 'detaining
British diplomat-spies'.
In fact, Moscow has taken no action against the diplomats who remain in post at the British Embassy in Moscow.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office
said: 'It is routine for Defence Attaches to travel around their host
countries in the course of their diplomatic duties.'
'This is no different in Russia. The
Defence Attaches from the British Embassy in Moscow submitted to all
relevant checks requested by the Russian authorities.'
Reports suggested that in 2012 Scott
and a technical worker from the UK embassy were detained by police in
North Ossetia after 'illegal access'.
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