Sweden’s foreign ministry announced on Tuesday it was expelling five Russian diplomats for activities inconsistent with their diplomatic status, saying the government took very seriously the security threat posed by Russia’s collection of classified information, Reuters reported.

The Russian embassy in Sweden refused to comment on this decision.

Russia and Western countries have carried out several expulsions of Russian diplomats since Moscow invaded Ukraine last February. Russia calls the invasion a “special military operation”.

“Five people working in the (Russian) embassy have been asked to leave (Sweden) due to activities incompatible with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations,” the Swedish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The ministry declined to specify what specific activities they were involved in, but said the Swedish security service had reported that Russia had been involved in intelligence gathering in Sweden on an ongoing basis.

“This is a security threat that the government takes very seriously,” it said in an emailed statement.

Sweden’s security service declined to comment on the case, but said it had warned that Russia was using diplomats to spy on Sweden.

Concerns have grown in many countries about Russia’s covert intelligence-gathering activities, and Sweden’s security police have said Russia poses a serious security threat to the Nordic country, which wants to join NATO.

Earlier this month, Norway expelled 15 Russian embassy employees it described as intelligence operatives working under diplomatic cover.

Sweden expelled three Russian diplomats last April, while Germany, the Netherlands, France and Belgium expelled officials a year ago over alleged espionage.

Europe has imposed tough sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and Sweden’s attempt to join the NATO military alliance has angered Russia.

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