Britain on Friday slapped sanctions on the GRU Russian intelligence agency, and 18 agents accused of “spreading chaos and disorder” on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“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 Foreign Office reported that the sanctions targeted three GRU units and 18 intelligence officers for a “sustained campaign of malicious cyber activity over many years, including in the UK.” It noted that “the GRU routinely uses cyber and information operations to sow chaos, division and disorder in Ukraine and across the world with devastating real-world consequences.”
“In the UK, Russia has targeted media outlets, telecoms providers, political and democratic institutions, and energy infrastructure,” the statement said.
NATO also acknowledged that countries including the UK, Estonia, France, and the U.S. had recently attributed cyber activity targeting allies and Ukraine to Russian intelligence.
“These attributions and the continuous targeting of our critical infrastructure … illustrate the extent to which cyber and hybrid threats have become tools in Russia’s campaign to destabilise NATO Allies and in its war of aggression against Ukraine,” NATO said in a statement.
“We call on Russia to stop its destabilising cyber and hybrid activities,” it added.
