UK expels Russian defence attache as an ‘undeclared’ spy

London: The British government on Wednesday said it has expelled the Russian defence attache because he was an “undeclared” spy as part of a series of measures against Moscow’s intelligence gathering operations in the UK.

The UK Home Office said the measures being rolled out this week are intended as a strong deterrence message to Russia and include removing diplomatic premises status from Russian properties in the country and imposing new restrictions on their diplomatic visas.

The government said it had summoned the Russian Ambassador to the UK to relay these measures and to reiterate that Russia’s actions will not be tolerated.

“National security is the first duty of government. I will do everything to ensure we protect our people and our allies,” said British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Under the steps announced by the Home Office, the UK has expelled the Russian defence attaché as “an undeclared military intelligence officer”; will remove diplomatic premises status from several Russian properties in the UK, including Seacox Heath—a Russia-owned property in Sussex—and the Trade and Defence Section in Highgate, London, which is believed to have been used for 'intelligence purposes'; and will impose new restrictions on Russian diplomatic visas, including 'capping' the length of time Russian diplomats can spend in the UK.

“We are taking action to send a strong deterrence message to Russia and to further reduce the ability of the Russian Intelligence Services to threaten the UK,” said UK Home Secretary James Cleverly.

“We will stand firm in the face of the Russian threat to the UK and our way of life,” he said.

The minister indicated that this is the latest in a string of “robust measures” taken against Russia following a pattern of “malign activity” carried out in the past year, which is believed to be linked to Moscow.

That includes five Bulgarian nationals charged with conspiring to commit espionage activities in the UK on behalf of Russia.

A sixth individual was later charged and legal proceedings for all are ongoing.

“Since the illegal invasion of Ukraine, Russia's attempts to undermine UK and European security have become increasingly brazen. These measures are an unequivocal message to the Russian state – their actions will not go unanswered,” said UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron.

“Together with our allies, we continue to send a powerful message to [Russian President] Putin that we will not tolerate his disruptive efforts and are not cowed by his threats – we will continue to stand up for freedom and democracy for as long as it takes,” added UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps.

Last month, five individuals were the first to be charged in connection with an investigation into alleged offences under the UK’s National Security Act. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) confirmed at the time it was related to alleged 'hostile activity in the UK to benefit a foreign state – namely Russia'.

The Home Office said the UK and its allies have also attributed several malign cyber activity incidents in the UK to the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) in recent years, such as targeting UK parliamentarians through spear-phishing campaigns, hacking and leaking UK-US trade documents and interference against a UK think tank working on defending democracy against disinformation.

In Europe, the Russian government has allegedly planned sabotage activities against military aid for Ukraine in Germany and Poland and carried out alleged espionage activity in Bulgaria and Italy; cyber and disinformation activities; air space violations; and GPS jamming with impact on civil aviation.

Following 'Russia’s state-backed attack in Salisbury in 2018', the UK and its allies took unprecedented measures to make Europe a harder operating environment for the Russian intelligence services, including expelling 23 undeclared Russian intelligence officers from the UK, the Home Office said.

Security is a top priority for this government and the UK's National Security Act 2023 has a range of measures which are being used to strengthen efforts to detect, deter and disrupt state threats, including by enhancing police powers to investigate state threat activity.