UK man charged with assisting Russian military spies in sabotage plot

What the report says

A 31-year-old British man, Joshua Cammidge, has been charged in the United Kingdom with assisting a foreign intelligence service after what prosecutors say was contact with a group tied to Russian military intelligence. According to Al Jazeera, citing the Crown Prosecution Service and police, the case relates to an alleged sabotage plot involving instructions from a suspected representative of the GRU Volunteer Corps.

Cammidge was arrested last week by counterterrorism officers and later charged on Wednesday. Police said he was detained at an address in Swindon, in southwest England, with searches also carried out at another Swindon property. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

The GRU Volunteer Corps was designated by the UK as a national security threat in July, when Britain moved to restrict support for proxy groups it says carry out hostile activity on behalf of foreign states. Under the law, people convicted of supporting the group can face up to 14 years in prison. The report also notes long-running British concerns about Russian espionage and sabotage, especially since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the UK would take strong action against threats to national security. The case adds to broader tensions between London and Moscow, which have worsened over allegations of Russian covert activity in Britain and across Europe.