Did Russian Officials Drug Two U.S. Diplomats In St. Petersburg Last Year?

Russian harassment of American diplomats in Moscow is 'increasing' Credit: Reuters

Rradio Free Europe: Two U.S. Diplomats Drugged In St. Petersburg Last Year, Deepening Washington's Concern

WASHINGTON -- Two U.S. officials traveling with diplomatic passports were drugged while attending a conference in Russia last year, and one of them was hospitalized, in what officials have concluded was part of a wider, escalating pattern of harassment of U.S. diplomats by Russia.

The incident at a hotel bar during a UN anticorruption conference in St. Petersburg in November 2015 caused concern in the U.S. State Department, which quietly protested to Moscow, according to a U.S. government official with direct knowledge of what occurred.

But it wasn't until a dramatic event in June, when an accredited U.S. diplomat was tackled outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, that officials in Washington reexamined the November drugging and concluded they were part of a definite pattern.

The State Department suggested the harassment has become a particular concern in the past two years.

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WNU Editor: There is nothing to be gained by drugging these two U.S. diplomats .... and on top of that the blow-back would be overwhelming. That is why when I first heard this story I was sceptical .... diplomacy needs to have an environment where diplomats are treated with respect and safety .... anything less would make any international discussion pointless. In addition .... diplomacy is just as important for Russia as it is for the U.S.. .... so why destroy this arrangement. That is why I am sceptical that there is a pattern behind these assaults .... but if it happens again .... even the sceptic in me would then concede that Moscow is up to no good to no good.