Wednesday 18 December UK News feed. James Hudson stepped down as the UK's deputy consul general in the city of Ekaterinburg at short notice after the footage was posted on the internet. His departure has prompted speculation that he was the victim of a sting operation by Russian intelligence operatives or a blackmail plot by an organised crime gang. The Foreign office confirmed that the envoy, who has held a string of postings across Eastern Europe, had resigned.
It declined to comment on the specifics of the case but emphasised that "high levels of personal and professional integrity" were expected of all staff.
Sections of the British embassy website with references to Mr Hudson were unavailable last night. The furore followed the appearance on a Russian news website of a short video entitled "Adventures of Mr Hudson in Russia". It shows a portly figure, closely resembling Mr Hudson, strolling into a room wearing spectacles and a dressing gown and clutching a wine glass. He meets and kisses a blonde women, reported to be a prostitute in a brothel in the city. A second woman then walks into view and both of them strip down to their underwear.
At one point the man is seen opening what appears to be a champagne bottle while sitting on a sofa. There were suggestions that the video was filmed made by agents from Russia's FSB, the successor to the KGB, in an deliberate move to leave Mr Hudson open to blackmail.
A security source was quoted in The Sun newspaper as saying: "Russian intelligence has a long history of making sex films and taking compromising photos to control people or further its aims. Two years ago the Government announced the expulsion of four Russian diplomats over Moscow's refusal to extradite the prime suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, the former KGB man who was poisoned in London.
