Category Archives: Espionage

Iran’s threat to UK on a par with Russia’s, security report finds

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Parliamentary committee says UK is priority target for cyber and physical attacks as well as assassinations

Iran’s intimidation, including the fear of physical attack and assassination of Iranian dissidents living in the UK, is comparable in scale to the threat posed by Russia, parliament’s intelligence and security committee has found.

In a report published on Thursday, the committee (ISC) adds that the UK is a priority espionage target for Iranian cyber-attacks, ranking just below the US and Saudi Arabia.

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Ukraine arrests Chinese father and son on suspicion of spying

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Pair accused of spying on Neptune missile programme, which is seen as critical to defence against Russia

Ukraine says it has arrested a Chinese father and son on suspicion of spying on its Neptune anti-ship missile programme, a key part of Kyiv’s growing domestic arms industry that is critical to its defence against Russian forces.

The announcement by Ukraine’s security service (SBU) follows assertions by Kyiv in recent months that Beijing, which has sought to project an image of neutrality, is helping the Kremlin’s war effort.

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Trump is making US intelligence parrot his line on Iran – it echoes Bush’s invasion of Iraq

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Tailoring assessments to suit political prejudices undermines their very function and led us to the Iraq war

In the run-up to the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, journalists covering the preparations for war became familiar with the concept of “stovepiping”.

The term described the tactic of pushing intelligence to key political decision makers, bypassing checks and balances within the system.

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UK ‘woefully’ unprepared for Chinese and Russian undersea cable sabotage, says report

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CSRI finds China and Russia may be coordinating ‘grey zone’ tactics against vulnerable western infrastructure

China and Russia are stepping up sabotage operations targeting undersea cables and the UK is unprepared to meet the mounting threat, according to new analysis.

A report by the China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI) analysed 12 incidents in which national authorities had investigated alleged undersea cable sabotage between January 2021 and April 2025. Of the 10 cases in which a suspect vessel was identified, eight were directly linked to China or Russia through flag-state registration or company ownership.

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KGB defector turned to Britain only after US rejected him several times, book reveals

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Vasili Mitrokhin defected in 1992 after spending years copying top-secret documents on Soviet spies and operations

One of the most consequential Russian defectors in history was turned away several times by the US before he was eventually accepted by Britain and exfiltrated with his family from Russia, according to revelations in a new book.

Vasili Mitrokhin, a KGB archivist who spent years copying top-secret documents on some of the most sensitive Soviet spies and operations, was brought out of Russia in 1992 by MI6. His archive of copied documents was exfiltrated separately. But London got hold of his trove only after Mitrokhin gave up trying to get the US to take him seriously.

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Out of the shadows: drone-op claims show Israel’s Mossad leaning in to its legend

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Footage purported to show spy agents launching missiles inside Iran is marked contrast to the intelligence service’s history of secrecy

Israelis were celebrating on Friday what many see as a stunning new success by their country’s foreign intelligence service, the Mossad.

Hours after launching 200 warplanes in a wave of strikes against Iran, Israeli officials released footage they said showed the Mossad agents deep inside Iran assembling missiles and explosive drones aimed at targets near Tehran.

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Four former staff of Taiwan’s ruling party charged with spying for China

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Accused held senior positions with Democratic Progressive party including one who worked for Taiwan’s president

Taiwan prosecutors have charged four former staffers in the ruling Democratic Progressive party with spying for China while they worked in senior positions.

The four include a former aide to Lai Ching-te when he was vice-president and for a time during his current presidency, and a senior staffer to Joseph Wu, then foreign minister and now the national security chief.

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Germany arrests three Ukrainians over alleged Russian parcel bomb plot

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Prosecutors say men intended to attack German cargo transport by sending packages that would explode in transit

Three Ukrainian nationals have been arrested on suspicion of plotting parcel bomb attacks in Germany on behalf of the Russian state, prosecutors said.

The German federal prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday that the men, identified only as Vladyslav T, Daniil B and Yevhen B, in line with German privacy rules, had been detained in recent days in Germany and Switzerland.

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Bulgarian woman in Russian spy ring is no George Blake, Old Bailey told

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Katrin Ivanova’s barrister says her sentence should reflect her admin duties and not equate her with ‘classic spy cases’

A woman said to be “chief minion” in a ring of Bulgarians convicted of spying for Russia in Britain should not be treated like George Blake, the double agent sentenced to four decades in jail in the 1960s, the Old Bailey has heard.

Katrin Ivanova was said by her barrister, Rupert Bowers KC, to have been manipulated by her partner, Biser Dzhambazov, and to then have endured the discovery of his affair with a fellow member of the spy ring while in prison.

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German spy agency labels AfD as ‘confirmed rightwing extremist’ force

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Upgrade from ‘suspected’ threat will mean greater surveillance of party that came second in last election

Germany’s domestic intelligence service has designated the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), the biggest opposition party, as a “confirmed rightwing extremist” force, meaning authorities can step up their surveillance as critics call for it to be legally banned.

The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) previously considered the anti-immigrant, pro-Kremlin party a “suspected” threat to Germany’s democratic order, with three of the AfD’s regional chapters in eastern statesand its youth wing classed as confirmed extremist.

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Allegations of Indian interference rock Canada election campaign

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Senior officials warn nations including China, Pakistan and Iran could attempt to subvert vote with sophisticated tools

The spectre of interference by India has already rocked the early days of Canada’s federal election, with officials warning that sophisticated efforts from other hostile nations are expected in the coming weeks.

As Canadians prepare to cast ballots on 28 April, senior officials say that India, China, Pakistan and Iran are all expected to make efforts to subvert the national vote through increasingly sophisticated disinformation campaigns.

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‘A clever agent’: notes from ‘watchers’ of spy Kim Philby made public for first time

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A new exhibition at the National Archives in London will reveal the extent of MI5 operation to expose the British double agent who was also Observer reporter

Secret surveillance of Britain’s ­notorious double agent, Kim Philby, made public for the first time in archived documents, reveals how keenly the Security Service wanted to confirm or disprove early suspicions of his high-level treachery.

In daily bulletins submitted to MI5 in November 1951, undercover operatives describe how Philby, codenamed Peach, moved about London.

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Revealed: second Kremlin spy ring targeting Russian dissidents discovered in UK

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After the spying convictions of six Bulgarians, police have warned of further Russian operations against opponents

A second Kremlin spy operation has been discovered targeting Russian dissidents in Britain, it can be revealed.

Roman Dobrokhotov, a journalist in the sights of the six Bulgarians convicted of spying for Russia, said he had been informed of fresh attempts to surveil his family.

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Three UK-based Bulgarians found guilty of spying for Russia

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Jury convicts Katrin Ivanova, Vanya Gaberova and Tihomir Ivanchev over alleged plots around Europe

Three Bulgarian nationals accused of spying for Russia have been found guilty of espionage charges in a trial that heard how they were involved in a string of plots around Europe directed by a fugitive based in Moscow.

After more than 32 hours of deliberations, a jury at the Old Bailey reached unanimous verdicts on Katrin Ivanova, 33, a lab technician, Vanya Gaberova, 30, a beautician, and Tihomir Ivanchev, 39, a painter and decorator, all of whom were living in London before their arrest.

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Woman accused of stealing Ukrainian soldiers’ mobile numbers, court hears

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Prosecutor at Old Bailey says Katrin Ivanova was only member of Bulgarian spy ring able to pull off plot

A lab technician has been accused of being the only member of a Bulgarian spy ring able to pull off a plot to steal the mobile numbers of Ukrainian soldiers training in Germany.

Katrin Ivanova, 33, was told by prosecutor Alison Morgan KC at the Old Bailey that she had been described by the plotters’ leader as the most technically adept member of the group and that she was necessary to the planned surveillance in Stuttgart.

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Actor Dirk Bogarde was ‘disturbed’ by KGB sting warning, declassified files reveal

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MI5 told Bogarde in 1971 that he had been identified as ‘practising homosexual’ of interest by Russian spies

The film star Dirk Bogarde was “clearly disturbed” and “troubled” after MI5 warned him that his name had been given to the KGB as a “practising homosexual” and he risked being compromised in a sting operation, newly declassified intelligence files show.

Bogarde, who died in 1999 and never came out publicly but lived with his life partner and manager, Anthony Forwood, was told by security services that his name was on a list of “six practising British homosexuals” given to the Russians by an unnamed source who had himself been sexually compromised during a visit to Moscow in the late 1950s.

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MI5 files suggest queen was not briefed on spy in royal household for nine years

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Documents indicate monarch was informed Anthony Blunt was Soviet agent in 1973, though he confessed in 1964

The late Queen Elizabeth II was not told for almost 10 years that Anthony Blunt, a surveyor of the queen’s pictures and a member of the royal household, had confessed to being a Soviet double agent, previously secret security files suggest.

Declassified MI5 documents throw intriguing new light on how the security services closely guarded news that the art historian, of the notorious Cambridge Five spy ring, had confessed in April 1964, with records indicating the queen was only informed in 1973.

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Up to 100 ‘suspicious incidents’ in Europe can be attributed to Russia, Czech minister says

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Czech foreign minister says Europe ‘needs to send a strong signal to Moscow that this won’t be tolerated’

A senior European diplomat said that up to 100 “suspicious incidents” in Europe this year could be attributed to Russia, as western officials grapple with how to respond to suspected Russian sabotage attempts.

Speaking ahead of a meeting with Nato counterparts in Brussels, the Czech foreign minister, Jan Lipavský, stressed that Europe “needs to send a strong signal to Moscow that this won’t be tolerated”.

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China sentences journalist to seven years on spy charges, family says

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Dong Yuyu was detained in 2022 after meeting Japanese diplomats named agents of ‘espionage organisation’

A veteran Chinese state media journalist has been sentenced by a Beijing court to seven years in prison on espionage charges, his family has said.

Dong Yuyu, a senior columnist at the Communist party newspaper Guangming Daily, was detained in February 2022 along with a Japanese diplomat at a Beijing restaurant.

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China releases three US citizens held for years in prisoner swap

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Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung freed after Biden administration forges rare agreement with Beijing

Three American citizens imprisoned for years by China have been released in a prisoner swap, the White House has said, announcing a rare diplomatic agreement with Beijing in the final months of the Biden administration.

The three are Mark Swidan, Kai Li and John Leung, all of whom had been designated by the US government as wrongfully detained. Swidan had been facing a death sentence on drug charges while Li and Leung were imprisoned on espionage charges.

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