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Russia demands information on alleged spy in Britain

By the CNN Wire Staff
Lawmaker Mike Hancock, above, said Katia Zatuliveter was "vetted and cleared to have a parliamentary pass."
Lawmaker Mike Hancock, above, said Katia Zatuliveter was "vetted and cleared to have a parliamentary pass."
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • A British parliamentary aide is arrested and faces deportation
  • MP Mike Hancock says Katia Zatuliveter "has done nothing wrong"
  • Russia isn't getting any response to official queries, its Foreign Ministry says
  • MI5 thinks she's a Russian sleeper agent, a British newspaper says

London, England (CNN) -- British officials aren't answering official Russian requests for more information about a Russian woman detained as a possible spy, Russia's Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

"Following British media reports on the arrest of the Russian citizen (Yekaterina) Zatuliveter, who is reportedly suspected of unlawful activities, our embassy in London promptly sent notes to the British Home Office and Foreign Office asking them whether this information is correct," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"The United Kingdom has still not responded with official reaction to Russia's appeals," it said.

"As for the zeal with which individual media outlets in the United Kingdom are trying to stage a vaudeville show to a hackneyed spy plot, it is inevitably deplorable," the ministry added.

The Home Office had no comment in response to Russia's statement. The Foreign Office confirmed that Russia had offered Zatuliveter consular services and referred all other questions to the Home Office.

Zatuliveter, an aide to British lawmaker Mike Hancock, was arrested Thursday and is facing expulsion, Hancock said Sunday.

"She is not a Russian spy," he said. "I know nothing about espionage, but she has been subjected to a deportation order. She is appealing it because she feels -- quite rightly -- that she has done nothing wrong."

It is difficult to understand the reasons for all this. She has been an excellent and conscientious employee.
--Mike Hancock, British lawmaker
RELATED TOPICS
  • Russia
  • United Kingdom

London's Sunday Times newspaper said the British intelligence service MI5 determined that the 25-year-old is a Russian sleeper agent.

Zatuliveter has been working for Hancock for more than two years and was "vetted and cleared to have a parliamentary pass," the lawmaker said.

"It is difficult to understand the reasons for all this. She has been an excellent and conscientious employee," Hancock said in a statement, wishing her well.

"It is now in the hands of her lawyers. I am sure that in the end she will be proved to be right," he said.

The Home Office -- which is responsible for domestic security and speaks for MI5 -- declined Sunday to comment on the allegations, saying it did not routinely comment on individual cases.

Hancock represents the southern section of the English city of Portsmouth on the south coast. He has been a member of Parliament since 1997. The Liberal Democrat party to which he belongs has been the junior partner in a British coalition government since May.

He lists Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Romania among his interests, and is active in lawmakers' groups focused on NATO and Western Europe.

CNN's Maxim Tkachenko, Per Nyberg and Arkady Irshenko contributed to this report.