London: UK counter-terror police have arrested two men and a woman in southeast England on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, in a new sign of increasing concern over hostile state activity. The Metropolitan Police announced on Thursday that the three individuals were taken into custody in the Grays area of Essex.
The suspects—a 41-year-old man, a 35-year-old woman, and a 46-year-old man—were arrested at two separate addresses. They were all detained under suspicion of “assisting a foreign intelligence service, contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act,” police said in a statement. They were later released on conditional bail while the investigation continues. The Metropolitan Police confirmed the country to which the allegations relate is Russia.
Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of the Counter Terrorism Command, highlighted a growing trend in hostile state activity. “We’re seeing an increasing number of who we would describe as ‘proxies’ being recruited by foreign intelligence services,” he said. Murphy’s comments come amid a series of recent cases linked to Russian intelligence. In May, six Bulgarian nationals were jailed for their roles in a Russian espionage cell, and a number of people are awaiting sentencing for an arson attack on a warehouse supplying Ukraine with communications equipment, after being recruited by the Russian paramilitary Wagner group.
The National Security Act 2023, under which the arrests were made, was introduced to give UK authorities stronger tools to combat modern espionage and state-sponsored threats. Section 3 of the Act criminalizes conduct intended to materially assist a foreign intelligence service in carrying out activities that are prejudicial to the safety or interests of the UK. This includes providing information, goods, services, or financial benefits.
Last year, MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum warned that Russia’s intelligence service was determined to cause “mayhem” in the UK due to its support for Ukraine. He noted that Russia had resorted to using criminals and private individuals to carry out its operations on British soil. Commander Murphy reiterated this warning, stating, “Anyone who might be contacted by and tempted into carrying out criminal activity on behalf of a foreign state here in the UK should think again. This kind of activity will be investigated and anyone found to be involved can expect to be prosecuted.”