American diplomats in Europe and Russia have experienced increased harassment and intimidation — some criminal — tactics from Russian intelligence agents since 2014,
The Washington Post reported.
The State Department confirmed it to the Post, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington D.C. defended it to the newspaper, and Secretary of State John Kerry has asked Russian president Vladimir Putin to put an end to it, the Post reported.
The Post reported Diplomats saw an uptick in incidents — in frequency and severity — after the U.S. imposed sanctions on Russia for its invasion of the Ukraine in 2014.
Some of the incidents Diplomats face, according to the Post:
- Being followed, including family members;
- Having foreign reported write negative stories about them;
- Having homes broken into and furniture rearranged, TVs turned on;
- Intruder defecating on the carpet;
- Slashed tires;
- Harassment by traffic cops.
A spokesman for the Russian embassy in D.C. defended the tactics to the Post.
"The deterioration of U.S.-Russia relations, which was not caused by us, but rather by the current Administration's policy of sanctions and attempts to isolate Russian, had a negative affect on the functioning of diplomatic missions, both in U.S. and Russia," the spokesman told the Post.
The Post reported that Kerry had a dialogue with Putin about the tactics during his visit to Moscow in March, but that incidents continued after that meeting.
At least one Republican blames President Obama for being an enabler to the Russian aggression.
"The problem is there have been no consequences for Russia," Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, told the Post. "The administration continues to pursue a false narrative that Russia can be our partner. They clearly don't want to be our partner."