UK clamps down on Russian espionage, as Moscow ramps up pressure on Europe

Russia has ramped up operations across Europe, especially after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with a string of suspected spies arrested in Germany, France, and Poland over the past year alone, The Economist wrote: “Russia’s war in Ukraine has been accompanied by a crescendo of aggression, subversion and meddling elsewhere.” One Czech minister said as many as 20% of all suspected security incidents that occurred in 2024 in Europe may be attributed to Russia. ”Russian intelligence services have gone a bit feral, frankly,” the head of the UK’s foreign intelligence agency said. Adding to the threat is greater coordination between China and Russia’s spy operations in Europe, Politico reported, as Beijing and Moscow are increasingly united by a common goal of undermining the West.

European countries have expelled hundreds of Russian diplomats in recent years, many of whom were presumed to be spies. In turn, Russia has grown increasingly reliant on private intelligence operatives and criminals to carry out its espionage missions, the director of the UK’s domestic intelligence service said. The Bulgarian trio convicted in London last week had day jobs as a beautician, a healthcare worker, and a decorator. Missions carried out by such agents tend to be less successful, but Moscow still regards them as valuable, the Financial Times wrote: “Since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it seems that Russian intelligence agencies have calculated that, even if some operations fail, their targets will still be intimidated.”