‘Squatter’ Russian diplomat sparks standoff in Australia

A portable security shed surrounded by weeds and discarded building materials is seen on a vacant land, which is a proposed new Russian embassy site, in Canberra on June 23, 2023. A mystery Russian diplomat with a penchant for cigarettes on June 23, sparked a national security standoff between Canberra and the Kremlin, which is defying Australia’s efforts to kick him off a messy building site near parliament. (Photo by Yoann CAMBEFORT / AFP)

CANBERRA — A mystery Russian diplomat with a penchant for loungewear and cigarettes on Friday sparked a national security standoff between Canberra and the Kremlin, defying Australia’s efforts to kick him off a messy building site near parliament.

Australia has blocked Russia from building a new embassy on a scruffy parcel of land a stone’s throw from Parliament House, after intelligence officials warned that Moscow would use the site as a base to spy on lawmakers. Last week, Australia passed laws specifically drafted to stop the development, which sits about 400 meters (0.25 miles) away from the parliamentary precinct.

Since then, a bespectacled Russian official clad in track pants and a puffer jacket has thwarted efforts to reclaim the land, where he is squatting inside a small security shed surrounded by weeds and discarded building materials.

With an envoy firmly ensconced inside the cozy portacabin on Friday afternoon, the Russian Embassy launched a last-ditch legal bid to halt his eviction.

An Australian government spokesperson said Russia was seeking an injunction at the country’s highest court.

“Russia’s challenge to the validity of the law is not unexpected,” he told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “This is part of the Russian playbook.”

Some bloke in the cold

Government sources have confirmed the man has diplomatic protection, but AFP has been unable to match him with Russia’s official list of representatives in Australia.

Police have been watching the site but the government is wary of arresting the diplomat, which could provoke Moscow into escalating an already tricky diplomatic situation.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Friday described the diplomat—who has been filmed leaving the shed to smoke cigarettes—as “some bloke standing in the cold on a blade of grass in Canberra.”

Russia bought the lease to the land from the Australian government in 2008, and in 2011 was granted approval to build its new embassy there.

Last week, the Australian government announced it was tearing up the lease.

“The government has received very clear security advice as to the risk posed by a new Russian presence so close to Parliament House,” Albanese told reporters. “We are acting quickly to ensure the lease site does not become a formal diplomatic presence.”

The new laws do not stop Russia from having a diplomatic footprint in Australia­—only from building so close to parliament. —AFP

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