Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed Yuri Borisov after 2.5 years in charge of the nation's space agency Roscosmos, The Moscow Times reported today (Feb. 6).

The Kremlin on Thursday removed the head of Russia's space agency after a tenure of less than three years that was scarred by the spectacular failure of Russia's first mission to the moon in 47 years.

In a surprise move, Russian President Vladimir Putin has dismissed Yury Borisov as head of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos. According to a decree published on Thursday on the Kremlin's website, Dmitry Bakanov has been appointed as the new director general of Roscosmos.

Britain on Thursday summoned the Russian ambassador to London for a meeting with a senior British official to revoke the accreditation of a Russian diplomat. "This is in response to Russia's unprovoked and baseless decision to strip the accreditation of a British diplomat in Moscow in November,

A Russian diplomat has been expelled from the UK in the latest escalation of a tit-for-tat spat after Moscow threw out a British official last year. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said action had been taken "following Russia's recent expulsion of a British diplomat" in November.