Britain has imposed sanctions on Russian spies it accuses of being responsible for a years-long campaign of malicious cyber attacks and threatening Brits’ safety. The measures target three units of the GRU military intelligence agency and 18 officers involved in spying and hacking.
One of the GRU units sanctioned by the UK carried out online reconnaissance to help target missile strikes in Mariupol, including one that destroyed the city’s theatre with hundreds of civilians sheltering inside, according to the Foreign Office. Some of the intelligence officers sanctioned were involved in targeting one of Yulia Skripal’s devices with a malicious malware known as X-agent.
This was five years before the attempt to poison her and her father, Sergei Skripal, with the deadly Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury, Wiltshire.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilise Europe, undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens.
“The Kremlin should be in no doubt: we see what they are trying to do in the shadows and we won’t tolerate it.”
He said the UK was taking “decisive action” with the sanctions against Russian spies, adding: “Putin’s hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve.
“The UK and our allies’ support for Ukraine and Europe’s security is ironclad.”
News of the sanctions came as the UK joined the EU in lowering the price cap on Russian oil as Ukraine’s allies seek to pile pressure on Moscow to engage in peace talks.
The cap, which is currently US$60 per barrel, will fall to US$47.60 from September 2 in a move Chancellor Rachel Reeves said was aimed at “exploiting” Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “biggest vulnerability”.
Energy revenues account for about 30% of the Russian state’s income, making them a key source of funding for the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
Ms Reeves, who is attending a meeting of G20 finance ministers in South Africa, said the UK and its EU allies were turning the screw on the Kremlin’s war chest by stemming the most valuable funding stream of its illegal war in Ukraine even further.
Mr Lammy added the UK would not “stand by” while Mr Putin “continues to stall on serious peace talks”.