MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. About 400 Russian diplomats have been expelled from 28 Western countries since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yevgeny Ivanov said on Monday at a meeting of the Russian Federation Council's Interim Commission for the Protection of State Sovereignty and Prevention of Interference in the country's Internal Affairs.

"Along with the introduction of all kinds of sanctions, the favorite method of Moscow’s punishment has been the expulsion of Russian diplomats. This did not begin on February 23; it began earlier; our [Western] colleagues have been practicing this. Since the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, about 400 employees of our foreign missions have been expelled from 28 Western countries. The leaders there are Poland, Germany, Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia, France, Italy, and Spain," the deputy minister said.

"The capacity of consular missions in many countries has also been reduced, of course. This is done in order to complicate the provision of any assistance, including this to Russian citizens and our compatriots who live in these countries. This also applies to press secretaries in a number of countries, so that it is impossible to convey information," Ivanov added.

"The actual reduction to a minimum of the apparatus of our diplomatic missions in a number of states means that the West has moved to a course of isolating Russia in a variety of areas," he noted.

"The West's hybrid war with Russia, unleashed long before the special military operation, has led to the fact that for many years our diplomats have not been able to work fully in Western countries. The total control of Western security services significantly impedes communication with representatives of local circles, who fear that their authorities will blame them for Russian connections. Constant expulsions, attacks on the part of local authorities on embassy schools, and the issuance of visas <...> do not allow not only normal work but also normal life," Ivanov said.

The diplomat also noted that the way out of this crisis will depend on further developments. "In any scenario, the restoration of diplomatic relations with the West to the previous level will be, to put it mildly, long and difficult," the deputy minister pointed out.