Latest news with #cyberactivity
BBC News
18-07-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
UK sanctions Russian spies for 'malicious' cyber activity
A number of Russian spies have been sanctioned for conducting a "sustained campaign of malicious cyber activity" including in the UK, the Foreign Office has military intelligence units from Russia's GRU espionage agency and 18 officers have had sanctions placed on them for "spreading chaos and disorder on [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's orders". UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy linked the activity to the UK's continued support of Ukraine, and said GRU spies were "running a campaign to destabilise Europe".Separately, the European Union placed its "strongest sanctions" yet on Russia, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called "essential and timely". The latest EU measures, announced on Friday, included a ban on transactions related to the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline and lowering a cap on the price at which Russian oil can be UK joined the move to lower the price cap, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves saying Europe was "turning the screw on the Kremlin's war chest".They come as European allies hope to ratchet up the pressure on Russia to bring the three-year-long war in Ukraine to an former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Putin, said his nation's economy would survive the sanctions and that Moscow will continue striking Ukraine "with increasing force".The EU sanctions are the 18th round of such measures since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in UK Foreign Office said one of the intelligence units it had sanctioned - Unit 26165 - had been involved in targeting Mariupol, including a strike that hit the Ukrainian city's theatre, killing hundreds of said it had also placed measures on intelligence officers who placed spyware on the phone of Yulia Skripal, who with her father was targeted by suspected Russian agents in Salisbury with the nerve agent Foreign Office added that Russia had targeted UK media organisations, telecoms companies, energy infrastructure and political institutions."The Kremlin should be in no doubt: we see what they are trying to do in the shadows and we won't tolerate it," Lammy said in a statement. "Putin's hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve."People or entities that are sanctioned can face a range of restrictions, including having financial assets leaders are also looking for the US to place further pressure on this week, Donald Trump threatened Russia with severe tariffs if a peace deal was not reached within 50 days. The US president has become increasingly impatient with Putin. The Foreign Office also announced sanctions on three leaders of the "African Initiative", a social media campaign it said was founded, funded and employed by Russia to conduct disinformation operations in West Africa.
Al Jazeera
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
UK sanctions senior Russian intelligence officers over cyberattacks
The United Kingdom says it has sanctioned more than 20 Russian spies, hackers and agencies over what it called a 'sustained campaign of malicious cyber activity' to destabilise Europe. The Foreign Office said on Friday it was sanctioning three units of the Russian military intelligence GRU agency and 18 of its officers. Those sanctioned include officers it said were involved in preparing the attack against Ukraine's Mariupol theatre in the first month of the war in 2022, which killed hundreds of civilians of taking shelter inside the building. It also sanctioned those it accuses of involvement in targeting former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, who were the victims of a nerve agent Novichok poisoning attack in 2018 in the UK. 'GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilise Europe, undermine Ukraine's sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens,' Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement. The UK also said Russia had targeted media outlets, telecoms providers, political and democratic institutions, and energy infrastructure in the UK. British authorities have repeatedly accused Moscow of orchestrating malign activity, ranging from traditional espionage and actions to undermine democracy, to sabotage and assassinations. Russia denies claims Earlier this month, three men were convicted over an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked business in London that police said was carried out at the behest of the Wagner mercenary group. Moscow has rejected such accusations, saying they were politically motivated and that it posed no threat to the UK. In addition to the sanctions aimed at GRU, the British foreign ministry said it was sanctioning three leaders of the 'African Initiative,' which it said was a Russian-funded social media content mill conducting information operations in West Africa. The UK has recently ramped up its military spending to help change its approach to defence, partly to address threats from Russia, nuclear risks and cyberattacks. The European Union and NATO also issued statements on Friday condemning what they described as Russia's destabilising hybrid activities. The UK move came on the same day the EU approved a new host of stiff sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine. The EU sanctions package includes a lower oil price cap, a ban on transactions with Nord Stream gas pipelines, and the targeting of more shadow fleet ships.
Reuters
18-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
UK sanctions senior Russian GRU officers over cyberattacks
LONDON, July 18 (Reuters) - Britain said on Friday it had sanctioned more than 20 Russian spies, hackers and agencies over what it called a "sustained campaign of malicious cyber activity" involving attacks on governments and institutions across Europe. The foreign ministry said it was sanctioning three units of the Russian military intelligence GRU agency and 18 of its officers, including those it said were involved in targeting strikes against Mariupol during the war in Ukraine, and spying on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia before they were targeted in a Novichok poisoning in 2018. "GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilise Europe, undermine Ukraine's sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens," Foreign Secretary David Lammy said in a statement. British authorities have repeatedly accused Moscow of orchestrating malign activity, ranging from traditional espionage and actions to undermine democracy, to sabotage and assassinations. Earlier this month, three men were convicted over an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked business in London which police said was carried out at the behest of the Wagner mercenary group. Moscow has rejected such accusations, saying they were politically motivated and that it posed no threat to Britain. The Russian embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The European Union and NATO issued statements on Friday condemning what they described as Russia's destabilising hybrid activities. In its latest announcement, Britain said three Russian GRU units - 29155, 26165 and 74455 - had targeted media outlets, telecoms providers, political and democratic institutions, and energy infrastructure in the UK and across Europe. Among these incidents were an Estonian government hack in 2020, a cyber attack on the German Bundestag in 2015, the hacking in 2016 of the U.S. Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and cyber attacks on the Paris Olympics last year, Britain said. The British foreign ministry also said Unit 26165 had conducted reconnaissance on the Mariupol Theatre in March 2022 ahead of air strikes which local officials said killed about 300 people and which Russia has denied deliberately targeting. In addition to the GRU-focused sanctions, the ministry said it was sanctioning three leaders of "African Initiative", which it said was a Russian-funded social media content mill conducting information operations in West Africa. Britain has recently ramped up its military spending to help change its approach to defence, partly to address threats from Russia, nuclear risks and cyberattacks.
