MOSCOW. Aug 13 (Interfax) - An employee of the Ukrainian Consulate General in St. Petersburg has been declared "persona non grata" in retaliation for Kyiv's analogous action towards a Russian representative in Lviv, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
"Back in May 2019, Ukrainian special services staged another provocation by baselessly declaring our Consulate General official in Lviv "persona non grata"," the ministry told journalists.
"No evidence was shown of him doing anything illegal outside his professional duties related to consular work.
"In response to such an unfriendly and unwarranted move by Kyiv, the Russian side was forced to declare a Ukrainian Consulate General official in St. Petersburg "persona non grata" on a reciprocal basis."