Russia's state security service, the FSB, has accused British diplomats of spying in Moscow.
It backed claims made in a Russian TV report which showed footage of what it said was British agents retrieving data from a fake rock planted on a street.
The programme also said a UK diplomat made regular payments to Russian non-governmental organisations.
The UK Foreign Office said it was "concerned and surprised", and denied any improper conduct with Russian NGOs.
Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed FSB spokesman as saying that "everything that was shown [in the programme] was true and based on our information".
We reject any allegation of improper conduct in our dealing with Russian NGOs
UK Foreign Office
The programme said four officials from the UK embassy and one Russian citizen, allegedly recruited by the British secret service, downloaded classified data from a transmitter in the rock onto palm-top computers.
According to the programme, the Russian citizen was later arrested.
Hidden camera footage appears to show individuals walking up to the rock.
One man is caught on camera carrying it away.
The programme contained a number of interviews with people claiming to be Russian intelligence officers, who made the allegations.
An unnamed FSB spokesman told AFP news agency one of the accused diplomats was a 30-year-old archivist.
A FSB officer told Rossiya television the hi-tech stone was "absolutely new spy technology".
More Here
It backed claims made in a Russian TV report which showed footage of what it said was British agents retrieving data from a fake rock planted on a street.
The programme also said a UK diplomat made regular payments to Russian non-governmental organisations.
The UK Foreign Office said it was "concerned and surprised", and denied any improper conduct with Russian NGOs.
Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed FSB spokesman as saying that "everything that was shown [in the programme] was true and based on our information".
We reject any allegation of improper conduct in our dealing with Russian NGOs
UK Foreign Office
The programme said four officials from the UK embassy and one Russian citizen, allegedly recruited by the British secret service, downloaded classified data from a transmitter in the rock onto palm-top computers.
According to the programme, the Russian citizen was later arrested.
Hidden camera footage appears to show individuals walking up to the rock.
One man is caught on camera carrying it away.
The programme contained a number of interviews with people claiming to be Russian intelligence officers, who made the allegations.
An unnamed FSB spokesman told AFP news agency one of the accused diplomats was a 30-year-old archivist.
A FSB officer told Rossiya television the hi-tech stone was "absolutely new spy technology".
More Here
@ spy