Three members of an alleged Russian spy ring have been arrested in Essex.
Men aged 46 and 41, and a 35-year-old woman, were arrested by counter terror police at two separate addresses in Grays yesterday morning.
The Metropolitan Police did not disclose the nationalities of those held, but issued a strong warning that anyone considering helping hostile foreign states in the UK should ‘think again’.
Detectives have searched both addresses – the woman and the younger man were arrested at one, with the 46-year-old man detained at another.
The suspects were held on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service, contrary to section 3 of the new National Security Act, and were taken to a police station in London.
They have since been released on bail while the investigation, which is being led by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, continues.
The Met confirmed the allegations related to passing information to Russia.
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the counter terrorism command, said: ‘Through our recent national security casework, we’re seeing an increasing number of who we would describe as ‘proxies’ being recruited by foreign intelligence services.
The three suspects were arrested and taken to a police station in London
‘Indeed, two young British men are awaiting sentencing after they were recruited by the Wagner Group – effectively the Russian state – to carry out an arson at Ukrainian-linked warehouse.
‘They are facing potentially lengthy custodial sentences, although, to be clear, today’s arrests are in no way connected to that investigation.
‘But 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.
‘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.’
The arrests mark the latest case involving allegations that people based in Britain have been recruited to spy for Russia, with alleged targets including dissidents critical of the Kremlin.
In July Dylan Earl and Jake Reeves became the first people convicted under the new National Security Act 2023, designed to tackle threats that fall short of traditional spying and espionage, and can involve third party actors not working directly for a foreign hostile state.
Earl, 21, and Reeves, 23, were recruited by the Russian mercenary organisation, the Wagner Group, after torching a warehouse housing humanitarian aid and satellite equipment belonging to Elon Musk’s Starlink company destined for Ukraine.
The attack, in Leyton, east London, resulted in damage and repairs costing around £1m and was livestreamed over Facetime to the men’s British recruiter who was reporting back to the Russians. He set the video to music as he shared it with his friends.
A court previously heard how Earl was the ‘architect’ of the plot. He was a builder and part-time drug dealer who lived with his parents in a large detached house in the Leicestershire countryside.
Earl and Reeves previously admitted aggravated arson and an offence under the National Security Act. Earl boasted he could build a ‘link’ between the Wagner Group, IRA and the Irish Kinahan crime cartel.
Earl joined a Telegram ‘broadcast channel’ called Grey Zone which was established in 2022 as a mouthpiece for Wagner Group, the court heard.
It had 500,000 members and published regular posts inviting people in European countries to join Russia’s fight in Ukraine.
On March 2 last year Earl told a Telegram contact called ‘Minsk KGB’, who was in Russia: ‘I been wanting to come Russia. I need a fresh start bro.
‘Do I need to be able to speak Russian though because that’s not the best? Litch [literally] know 30 words if that.’
Earl received his instructions and recruited others, including Reeves, the step-son of a police officer who failed most of his GCSEs and was working as an aircraft cleaner at Gatwick.
The arsonists were promised thousands of pounds, but forgot to film the warehouse burning down and were never paid for the attack.
Earl was scolded by the Russians for not telling them he was going ahead with the plan.
The pair are due to be sentenced at a later date.
And in another unrelated case, six members of a honeytrap spy ring based in Great Yarmouth were handed combined jail terms of more than 50 years for handing intelligence to Russia.
The agents passed secrets to Russian intelligence for almost three years, spying on a US airbase in Germany and tailing opponents of Vladimir Putin – some of whom they plotted to kidnap, murder or snare in ‘honeytraps’.
They ran one of the ‘largest and most complex’ enemy operations uncovered on UK soil, carrying out espionage on an ‘industrial scale’.
