A British university student has been ordered out of Russia amid claims she is a spy . History postgraduate Laura Sumner , 24 , was given ten days to leave the country after being fined £23.50 for an alleged visa violation . But Russian media reports have branded her ‘ Agent Sumner ’ and linked her to a bizarre claim of a revolutionary plot . Laura Mary Sumner , pictured , has been ordered to leave Russia within ten days after being branded a 'spy ' A pro-Kremlin website claimed she was one of a number of students carrying out research in Russia by British historian , Professor Sarah Badcock . The report claimed the Nottingham University academic ’ s work was ‘ important for the plans of the West to create a “ colour revolution ” in Russia ’ . The term describes the overthrow of governments in former Soviet states , such as the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine . Professor Badcock , 40 , is supervising Miss Sumner ’ s PhD thesis on early Soviet Russia but there has been no suggestion outside Russian media that either woman is involved in espionage or plans to foment revolution . Russian authorities accused her of conducting research in the country without the appropriate visa . Ms Sumner , left , was researching Soviet rule from 1917 to 1921 as part of her PhD under Professor Sarah Badcock of Nottingham University , right , who is acknowledged as one of Britain 's leading Russian experts . Questions have been raised over whether Miss Sumner has fallen victim to a tit-for-tat punishment by Russia . It came on the day that it emerged Britain had granted political asylum to a wealthy supporter of a prominent Russian opposition leader called Vladimir Ashurkov , who has been accused of embezzlement . And diplomatic relations have remained tense following Britain ’ s decision to launch a public inquiry into the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London . Action was taken against Miss Sumner by the Federal Migration Service but sources claimed officers from the FSB , the successor to the feared KGB , were in the courtroom . Federal Judge Ilya Varlamov , pictured , ordered that Ms Sumner must leave the country within 10 days . Ms Sumner , left , appeared in court along with an interpreter , right , and was ordered to pay a £23.50 fine . A migration service spokesman said the hearing on Wednesday April 1 in the city of Nizhny Novgorod was ‘ not an April Fool joke ’ . Nottingham University said Miss Sumner appeared to have fallen foul of a ‘ minor infringement in visa regulations ’ but did not respond to the spying claims . She has been offered consular support by the British Embassy . Miss Sumner , from Solihull , describes herself as a feminist and dog lover on Twitter , and has been working on her thesis for more than a year . She has been to Moscow and Nizhny Novgorod at least twice to carry out research . She was unavailable for comment and her Twitter account had been deleted yesterday . Professor Badcock was also unavailable and was said to be on holiday with her family .
Laura Mary Sumner has been ordered to leave Russia within 1917 to 1921 . Ms Sumner was researching Soviet rule from ten days in a library . Officials claimed she was in Russia on a commercial not a study visa . Russian media branded Ms Sumner ' a spy ' due to her research interests .