Photo:Will Stewart
Air Force attache Carl Scott is caught on camera holding up his identity card after he and colleague Assistant Naval Attache Ryan Coatalen-Hodgson were pulled in at a checkpoint in North Ossetia, in the Caucasus
Two British diplomats in Russia 'caught spying' on airbase ...accused of illegally watching Mozdok military airport
Air Force attache Carl Scott flagged down with Assistant Naval Attache Ryan Coatalen-Hodgson
Allegedly used 'special photo and video recording equipment'
read more after the cut .....
This is the moment two British diplomats were flagged down in Russia to be accused of filming a military air base.
The pair, based at the British Embassy in Moscow, were named as Air Force attache Carl Scott and Assistant Naval Attache Ryan Coatalen-Hodgson.
Moscow sought to maximise the incident by releasing footage of 'police' tailing their official car, and images of the defence attaches' identity cards after they were pulled in at a checkpoint.
Russia announced on Tuesday that it had 'caught' the pair 'illegally' snooping on Mozdok military airport' in North Ossetia, in the Caucasus.
They were accused of 'secret observation' and using 'special photo and video recording equipment', according to an FSB secret service source.
Dashcam footage, from early March, shows what is described as a police vehicle as it trails a British diplomatic car with the 001 registration assigned to the United Kingdom in Russia.
The Cold War-style sequence shows the tailing operation for several miles through the North Ossetian countryside, before road traffic policemen wave the diplomats to stop at a checkpoint.
Dashcam footage shows what is described as a police vehicle as it trails a British diplomatic car
Russia announced on Tuesday that it had 'caught' the pair 'illegally' snooping on Mozdok military airport' in North Ossetia, in the Caucasus
Footage shows Russian authorities tailing the pair for several miles through the North Ossetian countryside, before road traffic policemen wave the diplomats to stop at a checkpoint
Photo:Will Stewart
The pair entered the region - close to Chechnya - without 'appropriate permission', it was claimed
Here the diplomats were made to show their diplomatic identity cards and Scott held up his driving license.
The British officials refused to show the Russians what if anything they had filmed at the airfield, citing diplomatic immunity, said Moscow reports .
The footage was shown by pro-Kremlin news site LifeNews which boasted the video showed Russia 'detaining British diplomat-spies'.
In fact, Moscow has taken no action against the diplomats who remain in post at the British Embassy in Moscow.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Office said: 'It is routine for Defence Attaches to travel around their host countries in the course of their diplomatic duties.'
'This is no different in Russia. The Defence Attaches from the British Embassy in Moscow submitted to all relevant checks requested by the Russian authorities.'
Reports suggested that in 2012 Scott and a technical worker from the UK embassy were detained by police in North Ossetia after 'illegal access'.
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