The Metropolitan Police at Gatwick Airport in West Sussex arrested on Monday evening a man in his 40s on suspicion of spying for Russia as he was trying to board an outbound flight to leave the UK.
The arrest resulted from the joint intelligence-led operation to thwart Russian spying in Britain by the British security services MI5 and Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism command, which deals with arrests for espionage matters.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said that the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command arrested the man under Section 1 of the Official Secrets Act 1911 – a provision that outlaws spying on the UK – that relates to information contained in notes, plans, or sketches that may be useful to an enemy.
The suspect, which has been taken to a London police station, where he currently remains in police custody while the inquiry continues, is accused of spying in Britain for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Met’s Counter Terrorism Command’s detectives have up to 96 hours to hold him and can only extend his detention with approval from a court, after which they’ll have to charge him, release him while he is still under investigation or release him and drop the case.
The arresting incident comes at a time when the relationship between the two countries has hit a historic low and tension is heightened due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine which has promoted British security services to intensify their counter-espionage work in an effort to stop Russian attempts to spy on the UK.
Previously on Tuesday, Kremlin has expanded its list of British nationals banned from entering Russia – including journalists, politicians, and defense chiefs – increasing the already high tension between Russia under Vladimir Putin and the UK caused by the 2018 nerve agent attack on the former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, a critic of the Russian leader, on British soil.
Back in 2006, the former Russian security officer Alexander Litvinenko was also poisoned in London
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