Three people detained in Britain on suspicion of spying for Russia

Three people have been arrested near London on Wednesday on suspicion of spying for Russia, the Metropolitan Police has said.

The suspects — two men and a woman aged between 35 and 46 — were detained at two addresses in Essex, according to a police statement.

Accused of breaching the National Security Act (NSA), they were transported to a police station in London.

The three have been released on bail while investigations continue.

Responding to the development, Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the UK’s Counter Terrorism Command, said Britain was seeing an “increasing number” of “proxies” recruited by foreign intelligence agencies.

“Indeed, two young British men are awaiting sentencing after they were recruited by the Wagner Group — effectively the Russian state — to carry out an arson at a Ukrainian-linked warehouse,” he said, referring to an incident that caused £1 million (€1.15m) of damage in the English capital in March 2024.

“They are facing potentially lengthy custodial sentences, although, to be clear, today's arrests are in no way connected to that investigation,” Murphy added.

The UK arrests happened on the same day that the Lithuanian authorities said that a Russia-backed network had planned arson attacks across Europe.

Vilnius claimed the group, which is allegedly linked to the Russian military intelligence service GRU, was behind a series of explosions across the continent last year.

Last summer, parcels being couriered by DHL and DPD detonated in the UK, Germany and Poland.

Lithuania said that two of the 15 suspects had also carried out an arson attack on an Ikea store in Vilnius last year.

Searches in Lithuania, Poland, Latvia and Estonia uncovered more incendiary devices, which the authorities believe could have been used in future attacks.

Meanwhile, Latvia's security service said it had arrested a man for allegedly informing Russia about Latvian military sites, training exercises and about NATO troops stationed in the country.