It said the journalist, a 23-year-old woman, had complained to police that she had suffered “physical and moral injury” in the alleged incident at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport while trying to interview British diplomats arriving there.

“While the journalist was performing her professional duties, an unknown man, presumably an employee of the British Embassy in the Russian Federation, who was meeting the delegation, pushed her, causing the girl to lose her balance,” the ministry said.

It said the British embassy had ignored a police request to identify the alleged offender and provide information about his diplomatic status. Russian authorities would work to ensure that the person concerned was punished, irrespective of their status and nationality, the ministry added.

Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the incident was “nothing more than an interference operation designed to intimidate legitimate diplomats, degrade the UK’s international reputation, and distract from Russia’s flagrant and repeated disregard for international law.

“It matches a persistent pattern of shameful behaviour by the Kremlin against UK diplomats in Russia,” it said in a statement.

“Intimidation will not deter our staff from promoting international stability and UK interests around the world.”

The announcement came a day after the UK announced it was expelling a Russian diplomat in retaliation for Moscow throwing out a British diplomat last November. Russia had accused the diplomat of spying, which London emphatically denied.

Relations between the UK and Russia have plunged to post-Cold War lows since the start of the Ukraine war. The UK has joined successive waves of sanctions against Russia and provided arms to Ukraine.

Russia has also become involved in an escalating row with France this week over the accreditation of journalists.