Surveillance and 'constant paranoia': Western diplomats tell BBC of life in war-time Moscow

Western diplomats who served in Moscow since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine have told the BBC of a posting defined by constant surveillance, isolation and pressure they compare to the Cold War.

Five diplomats spoke to BBC News Russian, including former US ambassador Lynne Tracy and former French ambassador Pierre Levy. Tracy, who served in Moscow from 2023 to 2025, called it "probably the hardest assignment of my career." She said the uncertainty created by Russian counterintelligence was the defining difficulty, harder even than her earlier posting in Peshawar, where she survived an armed attack in 2008.

The diplomats describe being treated as representatives of "unfriendly" countries: bugged homes, cameras in "every single room of your house," and FSB agents attempting to recruit local embassy staff. Russians in academia and culture are intimidated into avoiding contact with Western officials. Guests at the British ambassador's residence were harassed by pro-Kremlin activists and then questioned by police at the King's birthday celebration this June; one guest has since declined further invitations out of fear.

The pressure has a human cost. One former ambassador says "constant paranoia" drove officials to quit, and that he looked over his shoulder for months after leaving Russia.

Embassies are also squeezed practically. Hundreds of expulsions left missions short-staffed, Russia's 2021 ban on hiring foreign nationals drained support staff, and Western sanctions - including the Swift cutoff and the suspension of Mastercard and Visa - left one ambassador unable to pay his staff until a colleague delivered rubles in a suitcase.

Yet the diplomats argue their work matters more than ever. "Generals prove what they can do during a war. The same is true for diplomats," one said. Tracy said she left Moscow in 2025 proud that the US Embassy had held firm and kept ties between Americans and ordinary Russians alive.