Three men arrested in UK on suspicion of spying for Russia, Scotland Yard says

Authorities in the UK have arrested three men on suspicion of spying for Russia, the Metropolitan Police said on Thursday.

The suspects, aged between 44 and 48, were detained at addresses in west and central London.

They are alleged to have breached the 2023 National Security Act by "assisting a foreign intelligence service," the police said in a statement.

The force added that Russia was the country that the three men are believed to have helped.

Searches are being carried out at the addresses where they were arrested and at a further location in west London.

Commander Dominic Murphy, the head of counter-terrorism policing in London, said the UK is seeing a spike in the number of "proxies" recruited by foreign intelligence services.

Last week, Ken McCallum, the head of the MI5 security service, claimed Russia was "committed to causing havoc and destruction."

"In the last year, we and the police have disrupted a steady stream of surveillance plots with hostile intent aimed at individuals Russian leaders perceive as their enemies," he said.

The Kremlin continues to deny its involvement in acts of sabotage against the UK and other European countries who also support Ukraine.

Thursday's arrests come as six men are being sentenced over an allegedly Russia-backed arson attack on Ukraine-linked businesses in east London in 2024.

Dylan Earl, the ringleader, was the first person to be found guilty under the National Security Act.

Last month, two men and a woman were arrested in Essex on suspicion of spying on behalf of Russia.

In May, a British court sentenced six Bulgarian members of a Russian spy ring to a combined total of more than 50 years in prison.