Russian spy operations significantly reduced in Europe

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Russian spy operations significantly reduced in Europe
Russian spy operations significantly reduced in Europe. Image: AlexLMX/Shutterstock.com

Expulsion of Russian diplomats after the Ukraine war key to reducing their ability to operate in Europe says MI5 Chief 

The Russian intelligence and spying abilities in Europe have been significantly reduced since the beginning of the Ukraine war, according to a report in the CNN. The British intelligence agency MI5´s Director General Ken McCallum made this announcement in an annual speech on Wednesday, November 16.  

Discussing about the involvement of Russian spies in the UK MacCallum said, “We’ve continued to work intensively to make the UK the hardest possible operating environment for Russian covert action”.

He also added that, since the government´s decision to remove 23 spies posing as diplomats, the British government has refused over 100 diplomatic visas. This has all been done on national security grounds, he said, adding that, “the serious point is that the UK must be ready for Russian aggression for years to come.”   

The report states that over 600 Russian officials have been expelled from the EU, out of which 400 have been confirmed as spies by the MI5.  

The MI5 chief also talked about China stating that, the country poses biggest strategic challenge for the UK. “We see Chinese authorities playing the long-game in cultivating contacts to manipulate opinion in China’s favour”, he said. MaCallum further added that this is not only being done in order to influence prominent parliamentarians in the UK, but also ordinary people.  


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