Russia Expels UK Student For Being A 'Spy'
A young British woman has been expelled from Russia and accused of being "a spy" by pro-Kremlin media.
Laura Sumner, a 25-year-old postgraduate student from Nottingham University, has been ordered to leave Russia within 10 days after being found to have violated the terms of her visa.
Ms Sumner was reportedly working in an archive in Nizhny Novgorod, a provincial city approximately 400 km (250 miles) east of Moscow, when she was approached by immigration officials.
On her Twitter account, which has since been deleted, she describes herself as a "feminist, dog lover, and History PhD student", researching conditions for factory workers in the city "during the early years of Soviet rule from 1917 to 1921".
It is not clear what possible threat this activity could be seen to pose to the Russian state.
Russian website Life News, however, published the story under the dramatic headline: "Nizhny Novgorod Court has kicked out a British spy from Russia".
The news portal, which has close links to the country's security services, claimed Sumner's PhD supervisor was financed by the "council on socioeconomic development of Great Britain" and working on topics "very relevant in the light of work of the West in order to create in Russia conditions for carrying out 'colour revolutions'".
The allegations do not appear to be backed by any evidence, and the case has been handled by Russia's Migration Service, rather than the FSB (the successor agency to the KGB) which would usually investigate suspected espionage.
In a statement to Sky News, a Federal Migration Service spokesperson said: "On 1 April, during a compliance check, immigration law officers found that a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain was violating the rules of entry into the Russian Federation in the Nizhny Novgorod region.
"The declared purpose of entry into the Russian Federation was different to the one that was actually carried out during the period of stay in the Russian Federation.
"The citizen has entered Russian Federation on a 'commercial' visa, which declared commerce as a purpose of the trip.
"However during their stay in the Nizhny Novgorod region the citizen engaged in scientific research, namely the collection of information for writing a research paper."
The official confirmed that Ms Sumner had been fined 2,000 roubles (£23.80) and told to leave Russia within 10 days.
A University of Nottingham spokesperson said: "We are in close contact with Laura, and with her family in the UK, over what appears to be a minor infringement in visa regulations as a result of recent changes to those regulations.
"We are pleased that Laura is safe and look forward to welcoming her back to Nottingham to continue her PhD studies.
"We are also liaising with appropriate authorities to seek further clarity surrounding the visa regulations. The university will then issue wider advice as appropriate to students and staff travelling to Russia."
The Foreign Office in London confirmed it was providing consular assistance to a British national in Russia.
