US Embassy and Consulates in Russia to replace all Russian staff in supervisory positions with US citizens.

The U.S. government announced it will replace all Russian nationals holding supervisory positions at its embassy and consulates in Russia with American citizens. The move, coming at a time when Russia-U.S. relations are at a new low, is considered an attempt by the U.S. to reduce its dependence on Russian staff, while some speculate the decision could be aimed at creating a network of undercover agents within the embassy.

The move is part of the new 2015 Intelligence Authorization Act (H.R. 4681).

“The Secretary of State shall ensure that, not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act, every supervisory position at a United States diplomatic facility in the Russian Federation shall be occupied by a citizen of the United States who has passed, and shall be subject to, a thorough background check.” 

“They [the authorities] may assume that some of the Russian staff might leak information to Russian intelligence,” Yuri Rogulev, head of the Franklin Roosevelt Center of American Studies at Moscow State University, told Izvestia. “The reform will lead to an increase [in the number of] U.S. citizens in the embassy, which will allow the U.S. to create an agent network undercover within the embassy.”
Read more at: http://www.ibtimes.com/us-replace-russians-americans-its-embassy-consulates-russia-1764490