Russian 'spy' escapes deportation from UK

A three-member panel of Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) set aside the decision to send Katia Zatuliveter, 26, back to Russia saying that there was no evidence to substantiate she exploited her relationship to draw out any favour for Russia.

“Nothing in the material which we have analysed suggests, let alone demonstrates, that the appellant exploited her relationships for the purposes of the Russian state,” SIAC chairman John Mitting said in his judgment. “Her activities would have been of great interest to the FSB or SVR (Russian intelligence agencies), but they are also entirely consistent with her being an ambitious young woman with an intense interest in politics and international relations,” the judgment said.