Police in Essex, arrested three suspects on suspicion of spying for Russia. Image credit: Politico.eu
(The Post News) – British police have detained a woman and two men on suspicion of spying for Russia, fueling more questions about Moscow’s increasing intelligence activity on the continent.
The Metropolitan Police said the 41-year-old man, and 46-year-old man, and a 35-year-old woman were arrested in raids at two addresses in Grays, Essex. They were arrested under the National Security Act (NSA) on suspicion of aiding a foreign intelligence service and were taken into a police station in London to be questioned.
Ongoing Investigations
The trio have been released on bail for further investigation. Their nationalities are unknown.
Met Counter Terrorism Commander Dominic Murphy said the arrests were proof of a growing trend among Russian agencies to bring in “proxies” to carry out sabotage and spying in Britain.
“Through our recent national security casework, we’re seeing an increasing number of people being recruited by foreign intelligence services,” Murphy said. “Anyone tempted to act on behalf of a hostile state should know this kind of activity will be investigated, and those involved can expect serious consequences.”
Murphy referred to the example of two young Brits who were offered a deal by Russia’s Wagner Group to set fire to a London warehouse linked to Ukraine. The attack caused £1 million of damage, and both are now facing serious prison sentences. He did stress, though, that yesterday’s arrests have nothing to do with that case.
The UK operation was simultaneous with similar security clampdowns across Eastern Europe. Lithuanian authorities claimed they had dismantled a Russia-backed cell tasked with plotting arson and explosive strikes across the continent. Prosecutors in the capital city of Vilnius claimed the group sent incendiary devices disguised as consumer goods via courier companies to German, Polish, and British warehouses last summer. Some of the devices exploded en route, including one at DHL’s Leipzig facility and another in Birmingham.
Western’s Growing Concerns over Multiple Incidents
At the same time, in another development, Latvia’s security service said it had arrested a man who claimed to have given Russia details on NATO deployments and Latvian military bases.
Western spy services have repeatedly accused Russia of carrying out sabotage operations across Europe ever since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Last year, MI5 chief Ken McCallum warned that Moscow’s GRU foreign intelligence service was attempting to “cause chaos on British and European streets” using cutouts and low-level operators, frequently at the cost of professionalism.
The Kremlin has consistently rejected claims of complicity in espionage and sabotage plots as politically motivated.
But British security officials state the trend is unmistakable. In March, three men were sentenced for carrying out arson attacks on Ukrainian businesses in London at Wagner’s behest, and five Bulgarian nationals were jailed earlier this year for spying on behalf of the Kremlin.
The latest arrests in Essex are another notch-up in Britain’s war of trying to counter the covert Russian meddling. As investigations continue, officials have issued warnings of caution, assuring that Moscow’s attempt to recruit proxies is not going to ease.
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