Russian Embassy Denies Withdrawing Almost All Employees From N.Korea

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Russian embassy in North Korea told Sputnik on Friday that Western reports alleging that all but a few Russian diplomats have been recalled from the country are false.

Earlier in the day, a Russian Foreign Ministry office chief in Vladivostok, Andrey Brovarets, told Sputnik that a group of 22 Russian diplomats and their families will return home from North Korea by train on Friday. A few days earlier, the NK News outlet reported, citing sources, that after the group's departure only two Russian diplomats will remain in North Korea, Ambassador Alexander Matsegora included, as well as technical staff. 

"The information in foreign media about the number of remaining diplomats does not correspond to reality, of course," a spokesperson for the Russian embassy in Pyongyang said.

A group of Russian diplomats has left North Korea this winter due to expiration of their contracts, but their regular rotational replacement was disrupted by pandemic restrictions. North Korea still denies having any COVID-19 cases but maintains strict controls, including those limiting foreign travel.

In April, the Russian embassy said that the severity of North Korean restrictions was hindering their access to health care and essential goods, noting that all but nine foreign ambassadors had left the country. The Russian ambassador was committed to continuing his duties, it said.