Russia declares employees of the Embassies of Sweden, Poland and Germany who participated in the unlawful demonstrations in Moscow and Saint Petersburg on January 23 as persona non grata, and the diplomats were summoned to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs today, TASS reported.

The ministry’s press release states that the diplomats are considered persona non grata and must leave the Russian Federation soon and that Russia expects the diplomatic missions of Sweden, Poland and Germany and their personnel to observe the norms of international law.

Earlier, Spokesperson of the Russian MFA Maria Zakharova had reported that Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during talks with his Swedish counterpart Anne Linde, had declared that representatives of the Swedish embassy had participated in the unlawful demonstrations in Russia. Employees of the Consulates of Sweden and Poland were spotted during the administrations in Saint Petersburg, and an employee of the German Embassy was spotted in Moscow.