Russia has expelled the United States’ deputy chief of mission to Moscow at the height of bilateral tensions over the Ukraine crisis, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday.

The U.S. Embassy promised a response to Bart Gorman’s expulsion.

“Gorman was the second most senior official at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow after the ambassador and a key member of the embassy’s senior management team,” Embassy spokesman Jason Rebholz was quoted as saying.

The blog Diplopundit reported Monday that Gorman had departed Moscow with his family last Thursday — the same day as Russia’s Diplomats’ Day holiday, it noted.

His expulsion came as the United States issued increasingly detailed warnings of a possibly imminent Russian invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

Gorman served as charge d’affaires at the U.S. mission in Moscow after the 2019 resignation of ex-President Donald Trump’s appointee Jon Huntsman.

Gorman continued as deputy chief of mission after the appointment of Ambassador John Sullivan under President Joe Biden in 2020.

source themoscowtimes.com