Britain strips Russian ’spy’ of citizenship

LONDON - Anna Chapman, the accused Russian agent who was at the centre of a major spy swap between Moscow and Washington last week, has been stripped of her British citizenship, it was reported Tuesday.

The Press Association, quoting government sources, said the 28-year-old, who was married to a British man and lived in London for several years, had been handed a letter revoking her citizenship and invalidating her passport.

Chapman, an attractive redhead, was one of 10 Russian spies expelled from the US and flown to Moscow in return for four Western agents in the biggest spy swap between the two former Cold War super powers.

Her US lawyer said she had expressed the wish to return to Britain, where she lived and worked for several years after moving to London in 2002.

Chapman, the daughter of a Russian diplomat, was married to Briton Alex Chapman from 2002 until 2006.

Her former husband said in a newspaper interview that Chapman had changed “dramatically” during their marriage, and that by the end she was having “secretive meetings with Russian friends”.

Under British law, the authorities have the power to deprive dual nationals of citizenship when doing so is “conducive to the public good”.