A Russian diplomat has squatted near Australia’s parliament in a row over where Russia wants to build its new embassy.
The lone protest follows Australia’s decision last week to terminate the lease – granted in 2008 – citing national security concerns.
Russia says it will challenge the move in the Supreme Court.
Australia’s prime minister says the diplomat was not a threat – he was “some guy standing … on a piece of grass”.
Announcing new laws aimed at ending the lease, Anthony Albanese said intelligence agencies had given “very clear security advice”.
The planned embassy would be located just 400 meters (0.25 miles) from parliament, which experts say poses a spying risk.
The existing Russian embassy is some distance away.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described Australia’s decision as another example of the “Russophobic hysteria that is now flowing in the countries of the collective West”.
It is not clear on what “constitutional grounds” Russia will challenge the laws, but it has sought an injunction to delay any moves to restore the site until the legal challenge is resolved.
In the complaint filed with the court, Russia says it has already spent A$8.2 million (£4.3 million, $5.5 million) on construction, which is progressing slowly.
Meanwhile, federal police are reportedly monitoring the man who fenced off the block of land, local media say, but cannot arrest him because of his diplomatic immunity.
Mr Albanese said he was not worried about the squatter or the legal challenge.
“Russia has not been very good at law lately,” he said.
“We don’t expect Russia to be in a position to talk about international law, given their rejection of it so consistently and so brazenly with their invasion of Ukraine.”