London police arrest three men on suspicion of spying for Russia

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London’s Metropolitan Police on Thursday arrested three men on suspicion of spying for Russia, in an operation the force said had been led by counterterrorism officers.

The force said the men — aged 48, 45 and 44 — had been arrested at addresses in west and central London and that searches were “ongoing” at those addresses and another in west London.

“All three men were arrested on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, contrary to section 3 of the National Security Act (NSA), 2023 and they were taken to a police station in London,” the force said. “The country to which the alleged offences relate is Russia.”

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said the force was seeing an “increasing number” of people they would describe as “proxies” being recruited by foreign intelligence services.

“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,” Murphy said.

“This kind of activity will be investigated and anyone found to be involved can expect to be prosecuted and there are potentially very serious consequences for those who are convicted.”

There have been a number of criminal cases involving activities by Russian intelligence agencies in the UK in recent years. In March, three Bulgarian nationals were convicted of conspiracy to spy on behalf of the country. There is no indication that the latest arrests have any link to that case.

The arrests come weeks after the Crown Prosecution Service abandoned a prosecution in a separate case against two men accused of spying for China. The two men concerned — Christopher Cash and Christopher Berry — had denied any wrongdoing.