"We regret to note that groundless and unsubstantiated attacks against Russia continue to emerge from the tireless Swiss journalists from Tages Anzeiger. As with the two previous publications by the authors, the Sunday article on Russian diplomats in Switzerland is characterized by the absence of any facts, as well references to secret documents that no one saw and probably no one wrote," the Russian diplomatic mission in Bern said in a statement on Facebook.
Such publications undermine Russian-Swiss relations, the embassy noted.
"The authors' attempt to instill a prejudiced attitude toward Russians working in Switzerland looks ridiculous. The inevitable question is: cui prodest? Certainly not to the Russian-Swiss relations, on the strengthening of which Russian diplomats in Bern and Geneva are working," the embassy noted.
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Earlier in the day, Tages Anzeiger and the Dutch publication NRC Handelsblad reported with reference to their own investigation about two Russians allegedly intending to spy on a lab in the Swiss city of Spiez that investigated chemical attacks in Syria and the attempted poisoning in Salisbury.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has expressed doubts that the operation of intelligence services of three countries in Europe resulting in alleged capture and deportation of "Russian spies" from the Netherlands could be missed by the media. He stressed that Moscow would be ready to "intelligibly" comment on the reports only after receiving the facts.
