Attempted Break-In Reported At Russian Diplomats' Residence In The Hague

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans

Police in the Netherlands are investigating an attempted break-in at a building in The Hague where employees of the Russian Embassy live.

Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans apologized on October 18 for the incident, which occurred late on the previous evening.

Dutch media report the building was not part of Russia's diplomatic mission but was home to an unspecified number of Russian Embassy personnel.

It was the latest in a series of events that have soured relations between the two countries.

Earlier this week, two men posing as electricians beat a Dutch diplomat in his Moscow apartment.

That followed what Moscow says was the beating and detention of a Russian diplomat in the Netherlands and the detention by Russia of 30 activists aboard a Dutch-flagged Greenpeace ship campaigning against Arctic oil drilling.


Based on reporting by nltimes.nl, nos.nl, ITAR-TASS, and Interfax