LONDON: British police said on Tuesday they had charged two men and a woman with identity document offenses after the BBC reported the group were accused of spying for Russia.
\nThe individuals are Bulgarian nationals, who were alleged to be working for Russian security services, the BBC said in its report, saying they had been held as part of a major national security investigation.
\nLondon\u2019s Metropolitan Police confirmed five people had been arrested by counter-terrorism officers in February under the Official Secrets Act and three had since been charged with possession of false identity documents with improper intention.
\nA police statement named them as Orlin Roussev, 45, Biser Dzambazov, 42, and Katrin Ivanova, 31. They appeared at London\u2019s Old Bailey Court in July and were remanded in custody until a future date.
\nThe police declined to comment on whether they were suspected of being Russian spies.
\nBritain has been sharpening its focus on external security threats and last month it passed a new national security law, aiming to deter espionage and foreign interference with updated tools and criminal provisions.
\nThe government labeled Russia \u201cthe most acute threat\u201d to its security when the law was passed.
\nPolice have charged three Russians, who they say are GRU military intelligence officers, with the 2018 attempt to murder former double agent Sergei Skripal with the military-grade nerve agent Novichok. Two were charged in 2018 and the third in 2021.
\nLast year, Britain\u2019s domestic spy chief said more than 400 suspected Russian spies had been expelled from Europe.
\nBritain has also been one of the strongest supporters of Ukraine since the Russian invasion last year and has imposed a range of sanctions on Russian officials and oligarchs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON: British police said on Tuesday they had charged two men and a woman with identity document offenses after the BBC reported the group were accused of spying for Russia. The individuals are Bulgarian nationals, who were alleged to be working for Russian security services, the BBC said in its report, saying they had been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349443,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-349437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n