The British government on Thursday accused Russian intelligence agency spying on British MPs, journalists or aid workers with the aim of “interfering” in the country’s political and democratic processes. great Britain through cyber espionage operations. He Ministry of Foreign Affairs In his statement, he blamed the KGB’s successor agency for several leaks of classified information since 2015 with the aim of disrupting the country’s political stability.

“I can confirm today that Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) is behind ongoing efforts to interfere in our democratic processes,” said Leo Doherty, a senior Foreign Office official now held by David Cameron. “They have attacked member of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. They attacked officials, journalists and NGOs. Their targets are high-ranking figures and entities with a clear goal of using the information obtained meddling in British politics”, Doherty added.

The Russian ambassador called for consultations

London believed that the FSB (formerly KGB) unit, Center 18, was responsible for the cyber espionage operation, carried out by the Star Blizzard group (also known as Callisto Group, Colriver or Seaborgium), which for British intelligence was subordinate to the unit. The aim has always been to “filter and amplify information in line with Russia’s confrontational aims, including undermining trust in politics in the UK and other similar countries.”

This is not the first time such accusations have emerged in the UK. In 2017, the Russian government was named as the main suspect in a cyber attack on the British Parliament who managed to access the emails of dozens of lawmakers and other officials. More recently, in 2019, several MPs were reported to have fallen victim to a Russian campaign to interfere in British politics. This time, however, it was not an individual’s suspicion or accusation, but rather the formal position of the British Government.

In protest, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian ambassador for consultations in London and put into effect sanctions against two Russian citizens those responsible for the jamming operation, FSB agent Ruslan Aleksandrovich Peretyatko and Star Blizzard member Andrey Stanislovich Korinets.