A former police officer who moved to Russia has had his citizenship revoked by the Home Office over ‘national security’.
Mark Bullen, originally from Bracknell in Berkshire, spent 11 years working for Hertfordshire Police, where he wrote a training handbook on Russian crime.
Having been interested in the country’s culture since he was a child, he moved there permanently in 2014.
Mark later started working for the media team for Russian football club Zenit St Petersburg and lives with his four children in the city.
However, 10 years after leaving the UK, he was detained by police at Luton Airport on a visit home to see family.
He was questioned for four hours under the Terrorism Act before being released without charge.
Then, in October last year, Mr Bullen received a letter from the Home Office telling him his UK citizenship was being revoked on the grounds of national security.
Mark said: ‘For them to do this, without any evidence, is ridiculous.’
Mark Bullen, 45, pictured during his time as a police officer in Hertfordshire, where he worked for 11 years
Mark pictured with his four children who he lives with in St Petersburg in Russia
The 45-year-old admitted he could not place where or when his infatuation with Russian culture started.
He said: ‘I have always been interested in Russia from a young age.
‘As a child I just had an obsession with Russia and its culture, I can never pinpoint one thing that started it. I have no family connection to Russia.
‘Then, in my teens, I had a pen friend from Russia.
‘I first came when I was 17, I took a trip twice and I just loved it.’
A year later, when Mark turned 18, he left home and made the journey across Europe to live in St Petersburg.
Already a fluent Russian speaker, he taught English as a job before moving back home in 1999 to join the police.
However, Mark had always planned to return to live in the country in later life.
After leaving the police in 2014, he began working in the media team for Zenit St Petersburg football club
He joined Hertfordshire Police and used his knowledge of the Russian language to create a handbook on Russian crime and prison tattoos.
His fluency also led to him receiving a certificate in 2010 when he helped calm a drunk and distressed Latvian man who had doused himself in petrol in a town centre.
In 2014, Mark decided to move back to Russia permanently, where he unexpectedly started working in football.
He said: ‘When I moved back to Russia, I had planned to write a book about Russian crime and I was teaching English in the meantime.
‘I am also a huge football fan and I was going to every Zenit St Petersburg match.
‘The club then contacted me, they found out I was a football fan who spoke English and Russian and asked me if I wanted a job doing their social media in the English language.
‘I had experience doing Twitter for the police so I said yes.’
Mark met his wife and now lives with his four children in St Petersburg. In 2022, he became a dual Russian citizen.
The former policeman admitted it was always his dream to return to Russia to live permanently
Until 2020, he had not had any issues returning to the UK to visit his parents, grandparents and his sister.
He said: ‘I used to come back once or twice a year and it used to be easy, I used to be able to get a Wizz Air flight from St Petersburg to Luton.
‘It became a lot harder during the pandemic.’
Then, in November 2024, Mark was detained by police upon arriving at Luton Airport.
He added: ‘The last time I came back in November 2024 I was forcibly detained under the terrorism act at Luton Airport.
‘I arrived and the people who detained me didn’t identify themselves. I was questioned for four years under the terrorism act.
‘I was denied legal representation despite asking three times.
‘I only discovered it was the police when a man I used to work with came in to search me. I said hello to him and he said he was doing his job.
‘They took my DNA, fingerprints, I had to strip down to be photographed.
‘I was released and was able to go about my business while I was home.’
The former police officer (pictured) was detained in Luton Airport under the Terrorism Act
In October last year, Mark received a letter from the Home Office telling him his citizenship had been revoked on grounds of ‘national security’.
He said he was ‘completely shocked’ when he received the letter, addressed from the Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.
He said: ‘I absolutely deny I am any threat to the UK. I find that comical.
‘I find it hard to believe that a country like England, which is supposed to be about freedom and liberty, would behave in this way.
‘I have never been charged. I have a perfect police record, two commendations, I was awarded officer of the year.’
After the decision from the Home Office, Mark has no plans for another trip back home in the near future.
‘Initially I was worried but once the dust settled, I felt OK. Especially after what happened last time.
‘I live in Russia, my family are here, I have four children, we have quite a good lifestyle.
‘But for them to do this, without any evidence, is ridiculous.
‘I am certain it is an overreaction. I have no idea why they targeted me.’
Under section 40 of the British Nationality Act 1981, the Home Secretary has the power to take away a person’s British citizenship if they consider it conducive to the public good.
The Home Office declined to comment.
