British ministers have ordered a security crackdown on Russia with direct action against Vladimir Putin’s spies in Britain and the bomber pilots buzzing UK airspace, according to the Sunday Times.
Senior security sources say there has been a “policy change” towards Russian intelligence officers operating in the UK. MI5 bosses have told the counter-espionage branch of the security service to step up surveillance against Kremlin-backed agents on the streets of London.
Intelligence chiefs are also recruiting Russian speakers to MI5, MI6 and GCHQ as security chiefs warn that a new Cold War is under way. One advert calls for recruits to “listen to Russian-language telephone calls” to combat “potential threats to national security, including terrorism and espionage”.
After Russian cyberattacks against the Baltic states, Georgia and Ukraine, the Cabinet Office has also beefed up funding for cybersecurity to combat cyberattacks by Russia against UK infrastructure targets.