Release date
British authorities have arrested three men on suspicion of being Russian spies, the Metropolitan Police announced on Thursday.
The suspects, aged between 44 and 48, were detained at addresses in west and central London.
They are suspected of “assisting foreign intelligence services” and violating the National Security Act 2023, police said in a statement.
The unit added that the country the three men were believed to have assisted was Russia.
Searches are ongoing at the address where he was arrested and elsewhere in west London.
London’s counter-terrorism police chief, Commander Dominic Murphy, said Britain was seeing a sharp rise in the number of “agents” being recruited by foreign intelligence services.
Last week Ken McCallum, head of MI5’s security service, claimed Russia was “dedicated to causing havoc and destruction”.
“Over the past year, we and our police have disrupted a steady stream of hostile surveillance programs targeting individuals that Russian leaders consider to be their enemies,” he said.
The Kremlin continues to deny involvement in sabotage against the UK and other European countries that also support Ukraine.
Thursday’s arrests come as six men are being sentenced for the 2024 arson attack in east London on suspicion of Russian support for Ukrainian-linked companies.
The ringleader, Dylan Earle, became the first person to be convicted under the National Security Act.
Last month, two men and a woman were arrested in Essex on suspicion of spying on behalf of Russia.
In May, a British court sentenced six Bulgarian members of a Russian spy ring to prison terms totaling more than 50 years.
