The UK has exposed 18 Russian spies and their units responsible for cyber-attacks in Britain, including hacking one of the victims of the Salisbury poisonings, Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced. The spies targeted media, telecoms providers, political institutions and energy infrastructure.
Two of the agents planted X-Agent spyware on a device used by Yulia Skripal five years before she and her father, former spy Sergei Skripal, were poisoned with novichok in Salisbury in 2018. The Skripals survived, but Dawn Sturgess died after her boyfriend found the poison in a perfume bottle.
X-Agent is linked to the hacking group Fancy Bear, which has ties to Russia's GRU military intelligence unit 26165, now hit with sanctions. Some agents from the unit were involved in targeting the Mariupol theatre bombing in Ukraine, where hundreds of civilians died, and carrying out cyber-operations in support of Vladimir Putin.
Lammy said the UK was exposing Russian spies to increase security, adding: 'GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilise Europe, undermine Ukraine's sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens. The Kremlin should be in no doubt. We see what they are trying to do in the shadows and we won't tolerate it.'
Sanctions include asset freezes and travel bans. The government also sanctioned African Initiative for printing disinformation about health in west Africa. The move escalates the UK's strategy, which previously focused on politicians, financial institutions and military leaders.
