UK man charged with assisting Russian intelligence-linked group

LONDON, Sept 9 - A British man has been charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service and preparing an act of sabotage after alleged contact with a group linked to Russian military intelligence, prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The Crown Prosecution Service said Joshua Cammidge, 31, allegedly communicated with and received instructions from a representative of the GRU Volunteer Corps, which it said is controlled by Russia's GRU military intelligence agency.

Cammidge is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

Russia's embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The charges followed an investigation led by Counter Terrorism Policing London. Police said Cammidge, a British national, was arrested in Swindon on September 4 by counterterrorism officers.

Relations between Britain and Russia have deteriorated sharply since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with British authorities increasingly warning about alleged Russian espionage, sabotage and other hostile state activity.

Last month, Russia warned it could strike British military targets in response to Ukrainian attacks using British-supplied long-range missiles. REUTERS