Three men were arrested in London, suspected of having helped Russian intelligence services, the police announced this Thursday, October 23, in a press release.
These men, aged 48, 45 and 44, “were detained on suspicion of having helped a foreign intelligence service,” the police said, specifying that “the country to which the alleged crimes relate is Russia.”
Police did not specify the nationalities of the suspects or give details of the activities in question.
Actions with “potentially very serious” consequences
Searches are being carried out at the three homes where these men were detained, as well as at a fourth home in the west of the capital.
“We are seeing an increasing number of people who we describe as ‘proxies’ (intermediaries) recruited by the intelligence services,” said Dominic Murphy, head of London’s counter-terrorism unit, quoted in the press release.
“Anyone who may be contacted and tempted to engage in criminal activity on behalf of a foreign state here in the UK should think twice,” he added, warning that the consequences of such actions will be “potentially very serious.”
In mid-October, Ken McCallum, head of British domestic intelligence (MI5), warned of the daily threat of Chinese espionage to the United Kingdom, also citing the Russian threat.
Source: BFM TV
