Latest news with #RussianIntelligence


Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
UK sanctions Russian spies for ‘threats, aggression'
LONDON: Britain on Friday slapped sanctions on the GRU Russian intelligence agency and 18 named agents accused of 'spreading chaos and disorder' on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilize Europe, undermine Ukraine's sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens,' Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement, adding 'Putin's hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve.'


The Guardian
5 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Man accused of plot to share Shapps details says he wanted to ‘expose' Russian spies
A man accused of attempting to hand over the personal details of the then defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to Russian intelligence officers has told a court he was actually trying to 'expose' the agents. Howard Phillips, 65, was charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service after passing a USB stick containing details relating to Shapps including his home address and the location of his private plane to undercover officers, who prosecutors say he believed to be Russian spies. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charge. Opening his defence at Winchester crown court, Phillips said he was not acting against the UK when he allegedly leaked Shapps's details but carrying out a secret plot to 'trap' Russian spies. Phillips, a retired insolvency worker from Harlow, Essex, told the court he was Jewish and hoped to pass information about the Russian spies to Israel, as he believed this would 'benefit' the state. He also told jurors that he first met Shapps, then his local MP in the constituency of Welwyn Hatfield, at a synagogue. Jeremy Dein, representing Phillips, asked whether he had any 'feelings about Russia' before he made contact with whom he presumed was the Russian intelligence service. In response, he said he did hold opinions – and they were 'very negative'. When asked about his view of the UK, he said: 'I love the UK … I would never do anything deliberate which would have the potential to harm this country – not ever.' Phillips told jurors he first made contact with the agents by sending a letter to the Russian embassy in March 2024. 'I simply wrote a letter portraying that I had information and that if they are interested, they should be in contact with me,' he said. Phillips said he did not have any information to share, and when asked why he made contact, he said: 'Because of events that were happening in the world, I was intending to track and expose the Russian agents.' When asked why he wanted to do this, Phillips said: 'Because they are the enemy and also, there was another side to it that was, at the time, the media portrayal of Israel was very negative. 'I was thinking to myself, if I could expose an agent, I could take that to the Israelis and facilitate benefit to the Israelis by the [UK] media having to portray that Israel had helped the UK – which goes on behind the scenes anyway.' The court heard that Phillips had met Shapps on four occasions in the past, after they met at Potters Bar synagogue in Hertfordshire. He said he had 'socialised' with Shapps in the then MP's house after an 'invitation to dinner and also to a meeting'. When asked if he was 'friends' with the politician, he said: 'I would say more acquaintances than friends.' Phillips said that in early 2024 he was living off his 'dilapidating capital', adding: 'I was pretty low about everything.' He told jurors he had also sent letters to the Iranian and Chinese embassies in March 2024. When asked why, he said: 'The same criteria. To expose and trap a foreign agent who I perceived were the enemies.' The court heard he had sent several letters in the past to various political figures, celebrities and business people, among others. In November 2022 he sent a letter to the actor Jennifer Aniston and the agent of Tom Cruise. Phillips also sent letters to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Suella Braverman and Steve Barclay, among others. The trial continues.


The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Man accused of plot to share Shapps details says he wanted to ‘expose' Russian spies
A man accused of attempting to hand over the personal details of the then defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to Russian intelligence officers has told a court he was actually trying to 'expose' the agents. Howard Phillips, 65, was charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service after passing a USB stick containing details relating to Shapps including his home address and the location of his private plane to undercover officers, who prosecutors say he believed to be Russian spies. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charge. Opening his defence at Winchester crown court, Phillips said he was not acting against the UK when he allegedly leaked Shapps's details but carrying out a secret plot to 'trap' Russian spies. Phillips, a retired insolvency worker from Harlow, Essex, told the court he was Jewish and hoped to pass information about the Russian spies to Israel, as he believed this would 'benefit' the state. He also told jurors that he first met Shapps, then his local MP in the constituency of Welwyn Hatfield, at a synagogue. Jeremy Dein, representing Phillips, asked whether he had any 'feelings about Russia' before he made contact with whom he presumed was the Russian intelligence service. In response, he said he did hold opinions – and they were 'very negative'. When asked about his view of the UK, he said: 'I love the UK … I would never do anything deliberate which would have the potential to harm this country – not ever.' Phillips told jurors he first made contact with the agents by sending a letter to the Russian embassy in March 2024. 'I simply wrote a letter portraying that I had information and that if they are interested, they should be in contact with me,' he said. Phillips said he did not have any information to share, and when asked why he made contact, he said: 'Because of events that were happening in the world, I was intending to track and expose the Russian agents.' When asked why he wanted to do this, Phillips said: 'Because they are the enemy and also, there was another side to it that was, at the time, the media portrayal of Israel was very negative. 'I was thinking to myself, if I could expose an agent, I could take that to the Israelis and facilitate benefit to the Israelis by the [UK] media having to portray that Israel had helped the UK – which goes on behind the scenes anyway.' The court heard that Phillips had met Shapps on four occasions in the past, after they met at Potters Bar synagogue in Hertfordshire. He said he had 'socialised' with Shapps in the then MP's house after an 'invitation to dinner and also to a meeting'. When asked if he was 'friends' with the politician, he said: 'I would say more acquaintances than friends.' Phillips said that in early 2024 he was living off his 'dilapidating capital', adding: 'I was pretty low about everything.' He told jurors he had also sent letters to the Iranian and Chinese embassies in March 2024. When asked why, he said: 'The same criteria. To expose and trap a foreign agent who I perceived were the enemies.' The court heard he had sent several letters in the past to various political figures, celebrities and businessmen, among others. In November 2022 he sent a letter to the actor Jennifer Aniston and the agent of Tom Cruise. Phillips also sent letters to Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, Suella Braverman and Steve Barclay, among others. The trial continues.


The Guardian
10-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Man told fake Russian spies he had ‘useful' information on Grant Shapps, jury hears
A retired insolvency worker devised a plot to leak the personal details of the then defence secretary, Grant Shapps, to Russian intelligence after claiming to have been invited to the politician's home and met him three times, a court has heard. Howard Phillips, 65, was in the process of applying for a job with the UK Border Force when he was approached by undercover officers who were posing as Russian agents called Dima and Sasha, the court heard. Phillips, from Harlow in Essex, boasted that he had 'useful' information on Shapps, who was his local MP in the constituency of Welwyn Hatfield at the time he claimed they had met, jurors were told. The defendant was arrested in May 2024 and charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service. He denies the charge and is standing trial at Winchester crown court. The court was told that in meetings with the 'Russian agents' that were secretly recorded, Phillips said he did not want to return to a 'normal' nine-to-five job and came up with the idea of 'offering services' to the Russian intelligence services after a trip to Moscow. Phillips said he wanted the agents and him to be a 'family' and said they could all 'help each other', the court heard. He later handed the undercover officers a bag containing a USB stick with Shapps' details on it, including his home address, phone number and location of his private plane, the court heard. One of the undercover officers, who is employed by the Security Service, gave evidence from behind a curtain on Thursday. He was known to Phillips as Dima and spoke to him in recordings with a fake Russian accent, the court heard. At a meeting at London Bridge hotel with the fake agents, Phillips told them he retired from insolvency work five years ago and went travelling afterwards, visiting cities including Moscow, the jury heard. He said he had found himself in a position 'where now I need to be earning money'. 'I do not want and cannot for myself go back into the normal nine-to-five office. It's not for me, it never was for me, but I did it,' he is said to have told them. The trial heard details of early communications Phillips had with the agents before they met in person. The trial continues.


Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Daily Mail
'Russian spy', 65, planned to tell Moscow about former defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps' private plane, home address, and phone number, court hears
A man accused of trying to help the Russian Intelligence Service planned to pass on personal information about former defence secretary Sir Grant Shapps, a court has heard. Howard Phillips, 65, from Harlow in Essex, is on trial over allegedly intending to assist the spy network by helping people he believed were agents working for Moscow. Prosecutors allege Phillips was 'very keen' to develop a relationship with undercover officers he believed were Russian agents, known as 'Dima' and 'Sasha', Winchester Crown Court heard. It is alleged Phillips, who was unemployed at the time, told the 'agents' he held personal information about Sir Grant, including his phone number and details of his private plane. He was said to have carried out various tasks for 'Dima' and 'Sasha' in exchange for payment because he was 'struggling financially'. 'That appears to have been a very significant factor in his eagerness and desire to provide assistance to the RIS,' prosecutor Jocelyn Ledward KC told jurors as she opened the case on Wednesday. 'The evidence shows he was very keen to offer assistance, not necessarily for any ideological reason, or because he sympathised with the Russian state but particularly to be financially rewarded for so work for easy money.' Phillips did not know the 'agents' were role players, Ms Ledward KC told jurors. 'He thought and understood them to be Russian agents,' Ms Ledward said. 'They were Russian agents with whom the defendant was very keen to develop a relationship - he was also very keen to provide assistance to them in various imaginative ways of his own devising.' She added: 'Had the defendant succeeded in any or all of what he had intended to do, any or all of these acts could have had very serious consequences indeed.' Jurors were told Phillips first disguised himself to the 'agents', purporting to be a 'David Marshall', but later told them his identity. The court heard he told the 'agents' on WhatsApp that he was 'semi-retired but with connections in high places. Living in Hertfordshire'. Jurors heard Phillips told 'Dima' and 'Sasha' that he had personal details about Sir Grant, including his phone number and details of his private plane. Ms Ledward told jurors Phillips met with one or both of the 'agents' in person, including once at a Costa at Lakeside Retail Park, in West Thurrock, Essex, last May 9. 'During this meeting, the defendant revealed... he held personal details about the then-UK secretary of state for defence, including his home address,' she said. 'The defendant explained that he had met Grant Shapps and had visited his house.' The court heard that at that meeting, Phillips was given £500 in cash to get a phone for the agents and book them a hotel. It is alleged Phillips intended to assist Russian agents from the end of 2023 until last May. Jurors heard that Phillips applied for a job at the UK Border Force as a part time Border Force officer in October 2023. Prosecutors say that by March last year, he was in communication with 'Dima' and 'Sasha' by email, later WhatsApp. Then on April 4 that year he allegedly left the 'agents' a USB on the exposed seat shaft of a bike in London, near St Pancras and Euston stations, the court heard. Ms Ledward told jurors Phillips told 'Dima' and 'Sasha' about 'the services he was willing to provide' on the USB, in a document saying: 'If a foreign power had someone on the outside, totally hidden, completely secret, who moves easily in society, anywhere on any level and can completely blend in as an upstanding citizen locally or tourist in any worldwide location, that would prove invaluable to a foreign entity in ensuring discretion of movement.' The document continued: 'The question is, if such a person can act for you at any time, with 100 per cent loyalty and dedication, no questions asked by anyone on any level, do you consider that such a person could prove invaluable to you?' Ms Ledward told jurors Phillips made a reference to the fact that he was in the process of getting government security clearance by applying for the border force role. She told the court that last April 26, Phillips met 'Sasha' and 'Dima' at a hired meeting apartment in London Bridge hotel to 'articulate specifically what he could offer to the RIS'. In an audio recording played to the court, which prosecutors said was from the meeting at the hotel, Phillips is alleged to have said: 'I've worked 9-5 in offices all my life, I want to be doing something different.' It is alleged Phillips was asked why he picked Russia, and in the audio said: 'I have only been once, I feel that over many, many years there has been a lot of discredit accorded towards Russia and I think a lot of it is absolute rubbish.' The court heard Phillips told the 'agents' at the meeting that he was 'motivated by financial gain' and 'wanted to be financially independent from the UK'. Jurors heard he told agents he would be able to provide logistical support in the UK, such as transport and booking hotel rooms. After that meeting, Phillips and the 'agents' began communicating on messaging platform Signal, jurors were told. Prosecutors claim the 65-year-old did not withdraw his border force application 'as he came more deeply involved with what he believed were actual RIS agents'. 'The defendant no doubt believed, or certainly came to realise, the prosecution say, that working at a government agency such as the Border Force and the security clearance that came with it, would give him access to information that he could later provide to a foreign intelligence service,' Ms Ledward told jurors. Jurors heard Phillips created a document containing Sir Grant's personal details on May 16 last year, and met with 'Sasha' in London that day to take instructions and collect cash for a task he was given. He was arrested by plain clothed officers that afternoon in a coffee shop near King's Cross station, the court heard. Phillips denies the charge of engaging in conduct to assist a foreign intelligence service, in breach of the National Security Act, and the trial continues.