Russia identifies, warns university teachers over British Council ‘collaboration'
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) accused British intelligence on Thursday of using the British Council as cover to undermine Russia and said it had identified teachers at leading universities who cooperated with the London-based charity.
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With the war in Ukraine intensifying more than three years since President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into the country and amid a tentative rapprochement between Moscow and Washington, Britain is now considered 'enemy number one' by Russian officials.
The British Council, which calls itself 'the UK's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities', said in 2018 that it had been told to cease operations in Russia.
The British Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside usual London business hours on the Russian accusations. British intelligence could not be reached for immediate comment.
The British Council ceased operations in Russia in 2018. File photo: Reuters
The disparate and divided Russian opposition, which is now mostly abroad, accuses Putin of building an increasingly repressive and autocratic regime in Russia as Moscow faces off against the West over Ukraine.
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