by WorldTribune Staff, October 6, 2016

In a turn of events that resembled Russia’s penchant for harassing American envoys during the Cold War, two U.S. diplomats who were in St. Petersburg for a UN event were slipped the date-rape drug, a report said.

The U.S. diplomats, one male and one female, had their drinks spiked with the drug in separate incidences while attending the United Nations Convention against Corruption in St. Petersburg in November 2015.

Foreign tourists and businessmen have been drugged in Russia in the past, but the location of the St. Petersburg incidents, in an upscale hotel, was seen as unusual. Also, there was no attempt to rob either of the U.S. officials.

The allegations were first reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) which was briefed by a U.S. government official.

“We are troubled, and we remain troubled, by the way our diplomatic and consular staff have been treated over the past two years,” U.S. State Department spokeswoman Elizabeth Kennedy Trudeau said. “In particular, the harassment and surveillance of our diplomatic personnel in Moscow by security personnel and traffic police has increased significantly.”

One of the diplomats was incapacitated and taken to a clinic for treatment. U.S. officials believe there was then an attempt to cover up the incident, according to the RFE/RL report.

“They tried to get blood tests done to determine the precise drug that had been used but the electricity went out at the clinic so samples couldn’t be taken. The victim was then flown out of the country to another hospital but by that time it was too late to obtain samples.”

A formal note of protest was lodged with Russia by the U.S. State Department.

Earlier this year, video footage emerged of a US diplomat and a Russian police officer in a scuffle outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

Both sides subsequently expelled two diplomats each in a Cold War-style standoff.

  Report: U.S. diplomats were given date-rape drug during Russia visit, St. Petersburg, U.S. State Department, United Nations Convention against Corruption, WorldTribune.com