British diplomat flees Russia after sex scandal

A British deputy consul in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg has been sacked after he was secretly filmed having sex with two prostitutes.

The explicit video, which was believed to have been shot in a brothel, was posted on a local news website. The footage apparently shows drunk James Hudson romping with two prostitutes.

The British Foreign Office (FCO) confirmed the departure of Hudson, who was the deputy consul general in the city. However, they refused to comment on whether it is indeed their man in Yekaterinburg who is in the video.

The FCO spokesman said the organization “expects all its staff to demonstrate high levels of personal and professional integrity and takes all allegations of inappropriate behavior seriously.”

Yekaterinburg media also accused Hudson of gambling and drug abuse during office hours.

Meanwhile, instead of criticizing the diplomat for his indecent behavior, the British papers have pointed a finger at Russia.

''A security source said Russia's FSB intelligence service, the modern KGB, may have carried out the sting to embarrass Britain,” wrote The Sun. "Russian intelligence has a long history of making sex films and taking compromising photos to control people or further its aims.''

According to The Telegraph, ''Hudson, 37, resigned from his posting to the Urals over the video, which is thought to have been secretly shot by Russian spies. ''

Mail Online News wrote: "Security sources believe Hudson has been caught in a classic sting by Russia's notorious FSB intelligence service."

Meanwhile, Dmitry Babich, a reporter at Russia’s RIA news agency, is “not sure this affair has a political character.”

“Actually, we’ve learned about it from British tabloids. If FSB and Russian authorities in general had wanted to make it a scandal, we would have learned about it from Russian television and it would be given a very high profile,” he said.

Hudson, a divorced father of one, joined the Foreign Office some 15 years ago. He has been posted to Sarajevo, Havana and Budapest. But being caught with his trousers down on film has meant his last posting on active service, not least to Her Majesty, was in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg.