MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Russia has declared three diplomats from the Embassy of Sweden in Moscow personae non gratae, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
"On April 26, the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Ambassador of Sweden to Russia Malena Mard and she was handed a note of protest in regard to hostile actions on behalf of the Swedish authorities concerning an ungrounded expulsion of three diplomats of the Russian Embassy in Stockholm, as well as concerning the Swedish military assistance being extended to the Kiev regime and cover-ups of Ukrainian nationalists’ crimes against civilians in Donbass and Ukraine," the statement reads.
"Malena Mard has been informed that the Russian side made a decision to declare three diplomats of the Embassy of Sweden in Russia as personae non gratae," according to the statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov reported on Monday that about 400 Russian diplomats have been already deported from 28 Western countries since the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine.
Russia’s military operation in Ukraine
The situation at the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.
Russian President Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.
The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.