By William James
LONDON (Reuters) -British police said on Thursday they had arrested three men suspected of assisting a foreign intelligence service, and that the alleged offences related to Russia.
The men – aged 48, 45 and 44 – were arrested at addresses in west and central London. Those addresses and one other were currently being searched, the force said, adding that counter-terrorism police were leading the investigation.
“We’re seeing an increasing number of who we would describe as ‘proxies’ being recruited by foreign intelligence services and these arrests are directly related to our ongoing efforts to disrupt this type of activity,” said Dominic Murphy, Head of Counter-Terrorism Policing London.
The arrests were made under the National Security Act passed in 2023, which is intended to allow prosecutors to put spying suspects on trial in a wider set of circumstances.
Thursday’s developments came as six men were being sentenced for their part in an arson attack on Ukraine-linked businesses in east London last year which prosecutors said was carried out at the behest of the Wagner mercenary group.
The ringleader, Dylan Earl, was the first person convicted under the National Security Act.
The Kremlin has denied accusations that it is involved in any such acts of sabotage, saying the British government repeatedly blames Russia for anything “bad” that happens in Britain.
“In the last year, we and the police have disrupted a steady stream of surveillance plots with hostile intent – aimed at individuals Russian leaders perceive as their enemies,” Ken McCallum, the head of the MI5 spy agency said last week.
(Reporting by William James; Additional reporting by Michael Holden;Editing by Catarina Demony, Alexandra Hudson)
