[akula]

Sophie, over the last 20 years, UK has expelled russian diplomats at least 5 times, and russia has always countered by expelling the same number of diplomats...take the 2006 "spy-rock" case

at the end of the day, these public feuds are simply a game of politics. in actuality, neither the UK nor Russian politicians can afford to have bad relations with one another, but they must engage in these public scandals to pacify their respective electorates

for example, in terms of Lugovoi, the english know perfectly well that the russian constitution prohibits the extradition of her citizens, but they still asked for the extradition knowing full well that it would be impossible for putin to meet their demand. and likewise, what ever retaliatory measures Russia takes are all temporary in nature and have no adverse effects in the long run for either party

to understand all of this madness, I can't help but turn back to Orwell's 1984:

""The very word 'war', therefore, has become misleading. It would probably be accurate to say that by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist. ... War is Peace.""

and as such...we're gonna continue to have these public feuds because they are necessary for politicians to extend their employment, and if you were a politician, you'd sure as hell invest in some scare politics your self